


Children and Soldiers (Yang Arc)

by Somerandomguy



Series: Children and Soldiers [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Contains OC, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-02-23 19:50:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 50,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2553449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somerandomguy/pseuds/Somerandomguy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For just a short while, the world was at peace. Following the attack on SDC, Team RWBY's morale is by no means high. Even in such a situation, the White Fang is on the move.<br/>But there is one person besides Weiss who is struck terribly by the event. In the upcoming battle, it's not just a fight for their lives.<br/>It's a fight for her smile, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seeking Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had no idea who he was up against. He had no clue what he was facing. He knew it was dangerous, but he still dived in looking for answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 1! Thus begins the third arc, and it might take a while for you to know whose arc this is, but hang in there!
> 
> And just in case anyone was confused, the old man in the previous chapter watching everything was the Shopkeep. Just FYI.

He had seen much worse. He had experienced far more violent aftermaths, and he had caused far greater destruction. Despite all that, the damage before him right now still irked him to no end.

"Are you sure you're up to this?" Ozpin asked over his Scroll. Sapphire would have wanted to use his headset, but he had forgotten to ask Penny to return it after the concert. He doubted he would ever bother anymore with this going on. "I heard that the damage you sustained is quite worrying."

"It'll just make my other arm stronger thanks to my Semblance," Sapphire replied. "That being said, it'll be difficult to do homework, so I'd like an extension on Dr. Oobleck's assignment. A permanent extension would be good."

"Since when did you attend classes?" Ozpin asked, probably out of genuine interest.

"Good point," Sapphire conceded. "Anyway, I take it you've given me the clearance to investigate?"

"The soldiers will know," Ozpin replied. "I do apologize for this; you are a student and yet-"

"Someone's gotta hold down the fort against that woman, right?" Sapphire asked. "It'll just be like old times; I'll serve as your eyes and ears for now."

"Very well," Ozpin said. "Tell me what you see."

"Chaos," Sapphire replied, walking around the lobby and noting the marks on the walls. "Not a lot of blood, but the damage is pretty severe. It's not all done by a single organized group."

"Not bad," Ozpin commented. "I do have reports that tell me that regular civilians were involved in the attack. Both human and Faunus."

"Is that right…" Sapphire trailed off, ascending the stairs as he continued to look around. "So they made use of people who don't like the SDC to add to their forces?"

"What makes you say that?" Ozpin asked. He probably already arrived at the same conclusion, but Sapphire supposed he was a teacher at heart after all. "They could be supporters of the White Fang."

"Then the attack would have been more organized," Sapphire replied. "Most of the security squad is severely injured at worst, not dead. I can only assume that the humans are an external party brought in to cause some trouble."

"Correct," Ozpin said. "You'll find evidence supporting that theory on the upper floors."

"Son of a…" Sapphire cursed, arriving on the fourth floor. The amount of blood and corpses in the lobby was nothing compared to this. Those who made it up here were clearly better armed and more skilled than those who were stalled at the lobby. "They let the civilians take out the guards on the lower floors and saved their combat troops for the stronger security up here. Wait a minute…"

"Yes," Ozpin agreed. "They waited for the concert to be held so that the security at the SDC would be lower. However, they still sent a group to attack the concert hall, and had to rely on civilians to attack the company. This isn't a proper plan; this is just a backup put into action following the failure of the assassination."

"That would make sense, if not for the fact that this is far too desperate," Sapphire reasoned. "They even relied on civilians here. If this was a backup, why isn't it more thought out? Unless… this group took orders from someone else and not from the higher ups directly… No, that doesn't make sense either…"

"Speculation won't get us anywhere," Ozpin prompted. "Head upstairs; I have yet to receive a report on Winter Schnee's office."

"Understood," Sapphire replied. He wanted to get away from having to look at all this anyway. "I'm interested in how they beat her personal guards too."

"Because you've battled them before," Ozpin stated plainly. "How strong would you say they are?"

"They're good," Sapphire replied instantly. "They're very calm and collected, and are very focused on their mission; they know when to attack and when to stick to defense, even if it makes them appear weak or even if they have the advantage. In my case they often just defended to buy some time, so I don't know what it's like when they're fighting to kill, but I can testify that their abilities are the real thing."

"So the White Fang have people who are skilled enough to take them both out," Ozpin mused.

Sapphire said nothing, but it was clear enough who Ozpin was actually referring to. Sapphire had been thinking along those lines as well; he was merely looking for evidence to prove himself wrong.

What remained of Winter's office shocked him beyond words for a few minutes.

The office looked almost untouched. Unlike the lower floors, where countless cracks peppered the walls and objects were crushed and scattered across like the aftermath of a hurricane, the office was largely clean, as though its inhabitant had merely left the room. The only marks of violence that remained to serve as any sort of proof was a long, deep gash on one of the walls – one that was long enough to cover almost the entire wall from one end to another, along with a pool of blood behind the desk that without a doubt belonged to Winter. On closer inspection, a pool of blood was present at the far corner of the room as well.

"Take a look," Sapphire said, taking a picture and sending it to Ozpin.

"What do you make of it?" Ozpin asked after a brief pause. His tone had changed as well, and most certainly not in a good way.

"Considering the damage downstairs and the considerable security at the SDC, it's unlikely that a large group made it up here," Sapphire summarized reluctantly. "If it's a small group, then at least there would be signs of a scuffle. Even though the guards are skilled, given the state of the office they were taken out swiftly. Odds are that only one or two White Fangs made it up here, and they were skilled enough to be able to take out both guards in a few hits, resulting in the lack of damage to the room."

"I suppose I should tell you," Ozpin sighed. "Only one of the guards was sent to the hospital along with Winter Schnee, and the other is currently missing. From the first guard's mumblings before he lost consciousness, his partner… 'Dissolved' into thin air after being struck by the intruder."

"So the blood in the corner belongs to the survivor," Sapphire muttered. "But who on Remnant…?"

"I was under the impression that you would say it's Adam Taurus," Ozpin commented.

"I did," Sapphire admitted. "But if it's really him, why is Winter still alive?"

Ozpin said nothing, waiting for Sapphire to continue.

"There's no way he'll leave Winter alive," he said. "If it really is him, then he's not worth paying attention to in this matter; if there's someone who can make him hold back on killing a Schnee, that person is definitely far more dangerous."

"Sapphire," Ozpin said seriously. "How likely is it that a third party is involved?"

Sapphire did not reply. Exiting the building in silence, he held back on telling Ozpin what the latter surely would know. After all, Ozpin should have arrived at the same conclusion; they both knew very well that only Adam Taurus could have left pulled off an attack like that.

"Hey, headmaster," Sapphire said, somewhat reluctantly. "You can expel me as and when you want, right?"

"I would like to remind you that the assassination attempt on Weiss Schnee was only thwarted because of the presence of assistance," Ozpin replied instead of directly answering him. "Assistance that came in the form of a team of students from Beacon – your peers, I might add."

"And as a result, they're injured as well," Sapphire retorted. "Because I asked them to help-"

"Sapphire," Ozpin cut across him sharply. "I hope you realize that Winter's current predicament is not your fault."

She was on the verge of dying because he failed to plan ahead all the way for something like this. He was wasting his time singing in a concert and having fun like an idiot instead of considering the possibility of revenge; there was no way the White Fang would take the assassination's failure lying down. How was it not his fault?

"They're your students, you know," Sapphire snapped, purposely ignoring that last comment.

"And so are you," Ozpin reminded. He waited, but Sapphire did not follow up with another retort. "But we shall discuss this another time. Is there anything else you wish to add?"

Sapphire opened his mouth, only to close it again without saying anything. There were many ideas and problems swimming about in his head, but he was sure that Ozpin had already thought of all of them by himself. There was one theory, however, that he wanted to bring up regardless.

"This might not be related," he said. "But what if that mystery woman is related to this third party, if it even exists?"

"It's hard to say," Ozpin replied. "Why do you think the White Fang wanted to assassinate Weiss Schnee, and attacked the SDC?"

"To boost their image," Sapphire replied. "Dealing damage to the SDC, no matter how they go about it, is the easiest way to do it. However, once they become more notorious and feared, it'll draw a lot of attention to them."

"Therefore?" Ozpin prompted.

"There is a third party involved after all," Sapphire finished. "And they're either cooperating with or are using the White Fang for their own schemes. It wouldn't make sense for the White Fang to let Winter live otherwise. The more people hate the White Fang, the more attention it draws to them and away from this third party. They might even be able to push the blame to the White Fang for some crimes they commit."

"See, was that so hard?" Ozpin asked, mirth creeping out of his voice.

Sapphire, realizing that he had been tricked into speaking his thoughts, cursed in about six different languages before finally returning to the conversation.

"Now that you've acknowledged the existence of a third party," Ozpin said, clearly satisfied with the reaction. "Will you still insist on fighting alone?"

"I get it," Sapphire conceded, heaving an exasperated sigh. "But are you really fine with them missing out on lessons?"

"Unfortunately, I'm too busy defending this office at the moment," Ozpin replied. "Also, I'm the clumsy type, so even if reports of Team RWBY missing classes were to be filed up, I might just end up losing them."

"Is that right," Sapphire said, smirking. Hanging up on the call, he let that smirk fade off his face as he considered their conversation. Regardless of the presence of third party, and regardless of the unknown woman's identity and connection with this, there was one thing he still questioned about the situation:

What did they hope to achieve or convey by leaving Winter alive?

-

The Shopkeep looked up when Sapphire entered the store, looking around as though checking for the presence of other customers.

"Good day," Sapphire greeted, leaning on the glass counter which displayed several kinds of Dust crystals. "Hard to find a proper Dust store around these parts, you know?"

"Yes, I've been told similar things in the past," the shopkeep replied.

"I hear you're a very interesting man," Sapphire said. "You own a noodle shop too, right? I believe I saw you mopping the floor in the concert hall on the day of the Schnee concert as well. Must be tough doing all that."

"Ah, yes," the shopkeep nodded. "I do a lot of part time jobs to earn some money."

"A jack of all trades, huh," Sapphire mused. "Interesting. Can you tell me something, though? How did they permit you to clean the concert halls during such an important event, especially when you're just a part-timer?"

"W-well, I've been working there for a while," Shopkeep replied, chuckling. "You could say I'm a veteran of cleaning dirty floors… haha…"

"I see," Sapphire laughed. "Maybe they'll get you to clean up the mess you helped create in the SDC, then."

"W-what do you mean?" Shopkeep asked nervously.

"I hear Roman Torchwick was first spotted in this area when he tried to rob this Dust store of yours," Sapphire said. "Such great camouflage it must be when everyone thinks you're a victim, no?

"The attack on the SDC wasn't well coordinated, but the people who helped out must have been gathered in some way," Sapphire went on, seemingly talking to himself. "Someone out there relayed information, and you seem to be observant enough to be able to gather said information."

"W-what makes you say that?" Shopkeep asked.

"How did you know I wasn't a customer when I came in?" Sapphire asked back. "You got nervous because you saw me fighting against the White Fang back at the concert hall, and thought I was here because I was on to you, no?"

Shopkeep took a few steps back, and at that moment another man walked in through the door. He cast a passing glance at the shop before sitting down next to Sapphire, seemingly paying no attention to Shopkeep himself.

"You should be cautious about continuing to provide information immediately after something like that," Sapphire advised. "You might be able to tell who's a fighter at first glance, but you don't know who's on your side."

Realizing that he had tricked into exposing himself, Shopkeep retreated a few steps but did not bolt for the exit; there was pretty much no way he could escape in a situation like this.

"I'll be frank with you," Sapphire said as he walked past Patrick and right into Shopkeep's face, his eyes slowly glowing red. "My teammate's sister is dying, and she's so heartbroken she's crying openly despite her pride and image. Her teammates are depressed as heck, so that puts me in a very bad mood. If you have anything to confess, and if you value your own skeletal system, I suggest you come clean right now."

Shopkeep trembled, staring at the human in front of him who strangely resembled a Grimm. Sapphire's eyes, flaring crimson, burned their horrifying fury into his brain. A light poke on his chest prompted him to look down, and at the tip of the blade hovering just above his heart.

"Now, tell me," he whispered. "Is there anything you want to say?"

-

Sapphire and Patrick emerged from the shop minutes later, their expressions much more relaxed than before. Behind them, a small group of soldiers marched through the doors where they had exited from.

"You feeling alright, Pat?" Sapphire asked. In order to deceive the Shopkeep, he had had Patrick use his memory manipulating Semblance to brainwash a few people, all of whom had their faces captured by the security cameras. As a result, he was able to convince Shopkeep that he was a friend of theirs, and confirmed his involvement in the attack when they asked him for more information. He even had to wipe those altered memories afterwards, which was extremely risky given his recent discharge from the hospital.

"Just a little migraine," Patrick admitted. "My memories aren't affected, so don't worry. What about you?"

"Surprisingly well, despite everything," Sapphire replied. "I've already settled things with Mercury, so it wasn't bothering me much to begin with, and now this…"

"I meant your body," Patrick corrected. "I heard it reacted strangely when you released your Semblance against Mercury. You're not going for the surgery, either; are you sure you're up for this?"

"Truthfully, no," Sapphire confessed. "I was perfectly fine with going for the surgery after fighting Mercury, even if it meant I can't walk or fight afterwards. But now that Winter's in this state, I can't just retire can I?"

"For this 'team' of yours?" Patrick asked, smiling. "I guess some things don't change. I won't stop you, Saph, but if a problem comes up, be sure to let me know."

"Well, if you put it that way," Sapphire said. "There is a favor I'd like to ask…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm… no heroines, ended up with too much Detective Sapphire here… Sorry if it was too dull or boring, but I had to set up the stage properly…
> 
> As usual, this is the prep chapter. Will be going into how the public reacts to the attack next chapter, and you might be able to tell who the main star of this arc is then.
> 
> Every arc so far has had a target Sapphire was out to kill. Blake, Mercury... so it should be no mystery as to who it is here.
> 
> Until then, fellas!


	2. Siblings Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They weren't alone, not because they had lovers, but because they had those irreplaceable people as family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 2!
> 
> No point hiding it, so here's letting you know this is Yang's arc. If I ever refer to her as Xiao Long Yang, please don't mind me; I'm Chinese and we tend to pronounce our full names with the surname first and name afterwards like the Japanese do. It only applies to Chinese-sounding names though, so don't worry.
> 
> Anyway, that's not important. Remember Sapphire's character song? Well here's a reminder of its existence:

"Sapphire, do you have anything you want to confess?"

He jumped. If Big Sis Cinder was using that voice, she clearly already knew.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about," Sapphire replied, refusing to meet his sister's eyes as he sat on the floor.

"I was just wondering if you got into any trouble lately," Cinder said, sitting down next to him and leaning against the wall. "Something along the lines of fighting other kids."

Sapphire jumped. He was already eight-years-old, and he still could not fool her properly. He was starting to wonder if his sister could read minds.

"No," Sapphire mumbled. "I didn't-"

A swift, merciless fist smashed into the top of his head, cutting off his pitiful attempt at lying.

"Do you really want to increase your number of offenses?" Cinder asked.

"I fought the blockhead who lives two streets down," Sapphire gave in easily. "I don't remember his name, and I don't care. He was picking on Sandra and-"

"And you jumped in like an idiot to protect the girl you love?" Cinder smirked. It was amusing how wide her brother's eyes could go while he blushed. He stammered and tried to find another terrible excuse, so she cut across him quickly. "How badly did he hurt you?"

"I'm not hurt," Sapphire denied. For an idiot, the blockhead had the brains to hit where it would not show with his clothes on. "Okay, okay, he punched and kicked me in the stomach and shoulders mostly," he hastily added as Cinder tightened her fist.

"Does it still hurt?" Cinder asked. "Answer me seriously."

"Not so much now," Sapphire answered. "It hurt like crazy at first though."

"This is why you think before you act, stupid," Cinder scolded, grinding her knuckles into the side of Sapphire's head. She held back, but she had done this enough times to know where to grind for maximum effect. "Why can't you put more thought into what you do, you doofus?"

"I don't want to hear that from you!" Sapphire whined as he tried escaping his sister's vicious technique. "You're the one singing about heroes and stuff!"

Cinder paused. Sapphire, sensing an increase in the danger levels from behind him, gulped in fear. Now that he thought about it, she had never once sung that song in front of him.

"When did you eavesdrop on me, my dear sweet brother…?" Cinder asked in a dangerous voice. Seeing Sapphire go stiff without reply, she sighed. "Well, whatever. So you acted based on the lyrics in that song, is that it?"

"Yep," Sapphire replied. "I thought it was sad at first, but the last part of the song made me change my mind."

"Hmm, so you want to be hero?" Cinder asked, wrapping her arms around Sapphire. "My little jewel wants to fight for justice, and save the world?"

"N-no!" Sapphire stuttered. The idea of a hero sounded cool at first, but why was it that when Cinder said it, it sounded so embarrassing he wanted to bury himself somewhere? "I… Just wanted to be one so I could keep the promise I made with Dad…"

"What's this?" Cinder asked in surprise. "You made a promise with Dad behind my back? When did you become so sneaky-"

"I promised him that I'd protect you and mom when he's not around."

A tense silence fell, with neither side knowing what to say for a few moments. They just sat there, unmoving, as the seconds crawled by. Sapphire refused to talk, so Cinder had to break the silence in the end.

"Then don't lose anymore, okay?" she said. She was glad that Sapphire had those thoughts, but at the same time she hated the fact that he was still tormented by their father's words. How many years had it been since they last saw their parents? Why did Sapphire have to hold those words in such high regard? Why did he have to let his life be influenced by people who were no longer around?

"So you stood up for Sandra because you wanted to be strong?" Cinder asked, receiving a timid nod in reply. "So you decided to protect some other girl before your own sister? I guess your girlfriend is more important than I am, then…"

"Wha-" Sapphire hastily tried to explain his way out of it, albeit terribly. "I- that is- er- No, that's not-"

"Become strong, Sapphire," Cinder giggled, leaning and resting her chin on Sapphire's head. "Then you'll be able to protect me. Although, if you're having problems with the Blockhead, you can't really call yourself strong, can you?"

"He was strong," Sapphire offered in his own defense. "He was huge, and he was bulky…"

"Excuses," Cinder said, cutting off her brother's endless stream of 'valid reasons'. "The strongest opponent isn't going to be someone like that, you know; I've read that the strongest foe is always someone who is like yourself. If you're so similar, you won't be able to outsmart each other or overpower them, right?"

"That's just a… a 'stalemate', right?" Sapphire asked, trying hard to remember the word. "Where would I find someone so much like me, anyway?"

"What about me?" Cinder asked, teasing him. "If you had to fight me, would you be able to win?"

"Of course not!" Sapphire exclaimed. "I won't ever fight you, sis! What're you saying? Why would I-"

"Don't take it so seriously, idiot," Cinder said, hugging him tighter. "But even if it's not me, what'll you do if it's someone similar?"

"It doesn't matter," Sapphire replied. "So long as it's not Sis, it's fine. I'll definitely defeat them all, so you don't have to worry about a thing!"

"Is that right?" Cinder chuckled. "Well, I look forward to the day you become a hero of justice for me, then… Work hard, o mighty punisher of evil."

Chuckling at her brother's embarrassment, Cinder Fall held him tightly. Even if it meant that he would eventually become someone she could no longer protect, even if it meant he would stop becoming dependent on her, she encouraged him to become stronger. As much as she wanted to protect him, even at the cost of becoming his only source of mental support, she was a big sister at heart. Accepting the fact that she could not protect him forever, Cinder closed her eyes. Even if it was just for the time being, she was going to treasure this moment.

In the year that followed, drowned in the chaos of war and violence, her heroic brother murdered thirty-six soldiers with his own hands. In the same year, Cinder was separated from her only remaining family member, believing him to be dead.

To her, this was truly a world where heroes died.

-

Cardin Winchester grimaced, having had the wind knocked out of him by a rough throw. He was about to say something – maybe even launch a counterattack – but the tip of a sharp blade against his neck advised otherwise.

"I'm sorry, my ears must be bad," Sapphire said lightly, despite threatening him with his weapon. "I didn't quite hear what you said just now. Care to repeat it?"

"W-what's with you?" Cardin asked, trying and failing to hide his fear. "Y-you're human, so-"

He did not get to finish that sentence, owing to the unfortunate accident of Sapphire's knee slamming into his stomach.

"Ah, geez, my hearing's really gone," Sapphire thought aloud, his eyes glowing red. "I get the feeling you just told me to utterly beat the crap out of you."

"Why're you… going this far to protect it?" Cardin gasped between coughs. "It's not-"

"Oh dear," Sapphire said, retracting his weapon and reaching for Cardin's right hand, breaking his index finger. "I believe I heard 'it' and not 'she'. Maybe I heard wrong. Care to repeat what you said, my good friend Cardin?"

"You're insane!" Cardin screamed over his howls of pain. He did not even have time to put up his Aura to protect himself.

"Maybe," Sapphire conceded. "So, keep that in mind the next time you decided to pick on a Faunus, you piece of trash. Now, disappear."

With a roundhouse kick, Sapphire launched a Dust Grenade at the wall next to Cardin, leaving a large hole right beside his face. He had controlled it properly, so Cardin would be unharmed, but he could not guarantee that his hearing would be the same for a good few days. Or weeks.

Sapphire was seldom this violent with students, but recently he found his patience running thin. Ever since the attack on SDC went public, the public had become increasingly hostile towards the White Fang. It did not just stop there, either; that hostility extended all the way to Faunus in general. Beacon was of course no exception, and the Faunus students became targets of severe discrimination. Amongst many others, Blake, Velvet and Sun were not spared from that treatment.

While Sun managed to shrug it off easily enough, Blake and Velvet were worse off. Blake did not mind the criticism and could stand up to bullies, but her psychological damage was great after hearing that the White Fang was responsible for the incident. Velvet, on the other hand, was too gentle to force the bullies to stop, even when the bullying escalated to physical beatings.

While the student population did not support those acts in general, their fear of the White Fang made it difficult for them to look out for the Faunus students. In fact, there were only a handful of students who actively looked out for them, and the most problematic amongst them were Yang and Sapphire.

Yang had initially held back, but when she saw her partner and friends treated that way, she snapped. She let her anger take over instead of listening to common sense, and it was only when Sapphire talked her out of it that she stopped. He had made a very compelling argument after all: she would cause further pain for her team if she was expelled, so if he – someone who was not officially a student – got violent instead, they could break bones while remaining relatively out of trouble. Even if it did draw a lot of attention to him, which was a pain in the neck.

"You shouldn't have done that," Coco – a teammate and friend of Velvet's – said. She had seen no reason to step in, but she did feel the need to point out his mistakes. "If you break a finger on his right hand, he'll be able to use that as an excuse to not do homework. You should have gone for the left hand instead."

"Darn, didn't think of that," Sapphire grumbled. "Sorry, my bad. I'll be more careful in the future."

"Mister Fall!" Goodwitch called out angrily. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"What does it look like?" Sapphire snapped, kicking Cardin as the latter tried to flee, but still letting him get away. Beckoning for Coco to leave, he turned back to Goodwitch as the sunglasses-wearing woman behind him strolled off calmly. "I'm holding in my murderous intentions."

"How many times does this make…" Goodwitch muttered under her breath. "I would like to ask that you refrain from such barbaric actions on school grounds."

"So you're fine with all this?" Sapphire asked, raising his voice. "You're fine with them treating Faunus like trash?!"

"That's not what I meant," Goodwitch sighed, smacking him across the head with her crop before using it to fix the damage he did to the wall. "I was referring to you damaging school property over and over again."

"You can fix it, so what's the problem?" Sapphire asked under his breath, the anger slowly draining out of his body. Receiving a glare from the woman whom he swore could never smile, he hastily caught on to her foul mood. "I got it; I'll be careful from now on, so lighten up. If you keep frowning, your face will age so fast you can't get mar- Um, I-I mean, look at the time! I have to get going!"

"Hold it," Goodwitch said, halting Sapphire in his tracks. "I understand that the headmaster has granted all of you permission to leave the school to visit the hospital, so I won't stop you, but I have a request."

"You're going to skin me alive, aren't you?" Sapphire asked. "Alright… Just let me write my will and set Zwei on Belladonna-"

" _Ahem_ ," Goodwitch cleared her throat significantly. She had never heard of a student by the name of 'Zwei' before, but she let that slide. "I want you to look out for Miss Xiao Long. She seems to be behaving rather strangely as of late."

"You mean stranger than usual?" Sapphire asked with a smirk. When Goodwitch refused to reply to that, instead giving him the silent treatment, he felt that weak smirk slide off his face. "Yeah, I got it."

It was not just Yang; no one on Team RWBY was spared from suffering after an incident like that. Everyone became swallowed up by their own troubles, and as a result the team became something that could hardly be called that at all. Ruby had tried, but no matter what she did, she could not find a solution to the problem at hand, if it even existed. However, if it did exist, then there might be hope yet. Even if those odds were not high, Sapphire could only choose to believe in it.

"We'll work things out somehow," he spoke his hopes aloud.

-

"Stop."

Velvet jumped, obeying that order as the guard moved in to stop her. Sapphire, who had already entered the hospital, turned and shoved the man aside with ease.

"Move," he said roughly, ignoring the guard as he dragged a reluctant Velvet with him even though she was the one who wanted to come along. "Come on, Scarlatina; or did you want to be carried?"

"Hold it right there," the other guard said, putting a hand on Sapphire's shoulder. His recently dislocated shoulder, no less. "We have strict orders to stop any Faunus from-"

"She's with me," Sapphire said, showing them his pass. If the unfortunate idiot decided to put any more force into his hand, the guard's fingers would come flying off. "Let her through."

"You-" the guard began, but when Sapphire turned around he managed to recognize him. "Y-you're that Huntsman who-"

"Yes, and I can vouch for her," Sapphire cut across him; his mood was terrible, and breaking Cardin's finger hardly helped matters. "On a side note, I'm going to bring her in regardless of what you want, but depending on your answer you might end up hospitalized yourself."

Ignoring their protests, Sapphire proceeded to pull Velvet in with him. Without going to the front desk (he had come here a few times already, and the number of high-class wards here was low anyway), he led her into the elevator while suppressing the urge to beat up every single person with eyes in the lobby for staring.

"W-was that really alright?" Velvet asked.

"Psh, you have a proper reason for being here anyway," Sapphire scoffed. "You should get your wounds treated before we go see Schnee."

Velvet said nothing. There was nothing to hide; Sapphire had cornered Cardin because he saw him hurting her in the first place. No matter what excuses she may have in mind, he was definitely not going to buy it. Besides, she owed Sapphire for stopping Coco from firing her minigun, even though she had already beaten Cardin's teammates senseless with her handbag before his intervention.

"Sorry," she said meekly.

"Don't apologize," Sapphire rebuked sharply. "Unless you're ashamed of being born as a Faunus, don't apologize. Even if you are ashamed of yourself, apologize to the Faunus population instead. Then come back here so I can make you regret that thought till the end of time."

The doors opened, showing an exhausted Blake and Yang. They almost did not recognize Sapphire and Velvet when they walked out of the elevator; as a matter of fact, they did not even seem to register that the doors had opened.

"Hey, Sapphire," Blake greeted weakly. "Hi, Velvet."

"How's Schn- Weiss?" Sapphire asked, his mood taking a turn for the worse again.

Yang shook her head.

"Ruby's in there with her right now," Blake added.

From the day they first found out about the attack, Weiss had not left her sister's side. The girls took turns to look after her, sometimes skipping school to do so owing to Sapphire being busy with working for Ozpin. From what they said, Weiss had spent every waking moment crying or looking at her sister, refusing to eat and only sleeping when exhaustion got the better of her.

"Go ahead," Sapphire said to Velvet, giving her a light push. She nodded and left, leaving the three of them to discuss in private.

"Is your shoulder alright?" Blake asked.

"We've got bigger fish to fry," Sapphire replied, not wanting to answer that question; the stupid guard had relit the flames in his shoulder, and it hurt like crazy. Clearing his throat, he went on: "I've got an idea or two for our little retaliation against the White Fang. Help me tell that to Rose and Weiss. We need the whole team on this, so I won't spill the beans right now; I'll wait for the reply from the four of you."

"Then why did you come here?" Yang asked. "You could've just told us all that with a call."

"I'm staying here," Sapphire stated. "At least until I have something else to do, I'll guard Winter's room; I don't have a lot of faith in her company's security at this point."

"Understood," Blake nodded. "I'll take tomorrow's shift then."

"I'll finish up today; you can have tomorrow, Saph," Yang said, stifling a yawn. "Blake can follow up after that."

"Wait a minute," Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "Why're you guys saying that like it's natural for us to be taking turns? I'm doing this solo-"

"Did you really think we were going to obediently let you do this on your own?" Blake challenged. "Don't be ridiculous, Sapphire."

Sapphire sighed, holding back his reply and waiting for Yang to add something after her partner's words. Strangely enough, even after a lengthy pause, the blonde said nothing.

"Fine then," he conceded, attributing the lack of reply to her fatigue. "But you rest up, Bell- Blake. I'll come back in a few hours, blondie."

"Call me that one more time, and I'll punch your face in," Yang threatened, walking back to where the ward was. There was hardly even any energy in her threat anymore. How was she going to stand guard like that?

"I know," Sapphire said before Blake could voice out her thoughts. "If I get the opportunity, I'll talk to her about it."

Even though he said that, Sapphire had no idea what to say. Everyone else seemed to have figured out that something was wrong with Yang, but he had no clue what the issue was. Sure, she was depressed, but so was everyone else. What was so different about the blonde that made everyone worry about her even when they had enough problems of their own?

Sighing in exasperation, Sapphire massaged his aching temples. Women were such a pain the neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… for the first time, I'm breaking this chapter off into 2 parts. They're both about family, after all.
> 
> It's been some time since I last wrote about a young Sapphire and young Cinder, but don't be surprised if I bring them back in again. Oh, and that Coco cameo. I'm very tempted to have a minigun scene, but I'll hold back for now.
> 
> Oh yeah, a reader pointed this out, and just in case I didn't mention this before I'll mention it now and again in the next chapter: Lifesaver is a modified prosthesis, so its shape is more like leg armor or weaponized boots, which means the wearer can put their legs into them. Sapphire's legs aren't gone, but yes they are disappearing bit by bit over time because Sapphire's Semblance and Aura can't keep the 'wilting' at bay forever. Sapphire will mention this in the next chapter, but I thought I'd answer it properly now first.
> 
> Hope that cleared up some doubts! See you next chapter!


	3. Siblings Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the Siblings chapter. Yang and Sapphire have a little chat.

Sapphire stood in silence, waiting for the elevator doors to open as the small space rose at a snail's pace. If someone had been next to him, he would have complained about how unfair it was that Belladonna almost killed him over false accusations that he had hid Zwei under her blanket. Granted, she was right, but she had no evidence whatsoever.

Now that he was alone, Sapphire had no need to pretend. He had no reason to act like he was a regular guy with the knack for teasing others, especially not now.

Without warning, he punched the wall of the elevator, producing a dull echo. Gritting his teeth, the former mercenary ignored the pain exploding across his knuckles. Had his shoulder not been dislocated, he would have dearly wanted to punch with his other fist as well.

"What are you doing…" he muttered, directing those words at himself. "Why are you so useless…"

Losing control over his own emotions, Sapphire let his eyes gradually turn red. He had always hated his own weakness, and now even more than ever; he could not believe that even after having a plan, he was unable to put it into action because he could not pull it off by himself.

He understood what Ozpin wanted to say. He knew that there were times he had to rely on others and their strength, but what had that accomplished? He might have saved Weiss, but as a result Team JNPR suffered injuries and Winter was dying. That was not counting the various other people who lost their lives in the assault on the SDC.

The aim of the assassination at the concert hall had been to kill. The attack on the SDC purposely left Winter alive. The two acts, while performed by the White Fang, had vastly different objectives, which threw his thoughts into confusion. Not only was he too weak to carry out his own plan, Sapphire was clueless on the battlefield of information as well.

"What do I do, sis…?" He muttered before he realized it. He had not said those words since the night he was defeated by Ozpin, and truthfully speaking he had not been this lost since then. "I…"

He knew what the right choice to make was. In a situation like this, where information was heavily lacking, there were few moves to make, but hope still remained; as a mercenary, Sapphire had been taught enough to be able to devise a strategy. However, his own guilt was starting to overwhelm all other thoughts in his head.

The doors opened, and a very exhausted Ruby appeared. With eyes that told him quite plainly she had been up for nights consecutively, she was supporting-

"Weiss," Sapphire said solemnly. If not for the hair, clothes and rapier (which he hated with a passion), he would never have recognized her at all.

She looked, if anything, terrible; her eyes, beyond having hideous dark circles under them, were puffed up and red, with fresh tear tracks emblazoned on her cheeks. There was not even a modicum of her usual confidence and composure on that once beautiful face anymore.

"Sapphire," she said, her voice low as though muttering under her breath, and her lips trembling from the effort to form words. She did not even meet his gaze, instead choosing to keep her head low. "Is it true that you have a plan in mind?"

"Yes," Sapphire replied reluctantly.

"I see," Weiss said flatly, walking past him and into the elevator with Ruby supporting her. Without another word exchanged, the doors closed, leaving Sapphire alone in the corridor.

"Darn it," he muttered viciously, clenching both fists. He did not care about the pain right now; Weiss's current appearance was more than enough to push aside those trivial worries.

Was Weiss really intending to come along? The moment he worried about that, a pang of anger assaulted his mind; it had been his idea to tell the girls he had a plan in the first place. What had he been thinking?

"Change of shifts," he deadpanned, speaking to a rather distracted Yang as she leaned against the door to Winter's ward. Complying with orders on grounds of safety, the security had been moved from standing guard outside the ward to guarding every other inch of the hospital, leaving Team RWBY as the only protection on this floor. While risky, Sapphire and Ozpin agreed that in the case of a spy having infiltrated the ranks of the SDC, this was a relatively safe bet.

"Oh, right," Yang replied, her usual energy completely nonexistent. Pausing for a few seconds, she eventually walked past Sapphire and towards the stairs, disappearing around a corner.

Taking over Yang's spot and standing in front of the room, Sapphire popped a small pill into his mouth. Grimacing as both the bitter aftertaste and growing pain assaulted him, he tried distracting himself by staring at the decorative plant in the far corner of the room.

He had never been very enthusiastic about taking that 'super pill', but aside from the pain and terrible flavor, it was effective in using Aura to cure wounds in considerably shorter periods of time. Granted, the amount of Aura that Sapphire had at his disposal was low, but since it was insufficient for combat anyway he let the pill use it instead. Even if it would be less effective, if it could hasten his recovery by even one or two days, the suffering would be worth it.

Catching a brief glance of something gold out of the corner of his eye, Sapphire sprang into action. In one powerful leap, he reached the staircase with Duskfall pointed swiftly at-

Surprised by Sapphire's sudden appearance, Yang hastily put up a fighting stance. Both of them froze for a few seconds before Sapphire lowered his weapon first.

"What're you doing?" he asked, as Yang let her arms fall lifelessly to her sides. "I've got it here; you go back to Beacon and rest."

"Ah, yeah…" Yang said halfheartedly, stifling a yawn.

"What's wrong?" Sapphire asked, remembering Goodwitch' and Blake's requests. "Something on your mind?"

"Just a little," Yang replied. It did not take a genius to figure out that she was sounding nothing like her usual self, and Sapphire just raised an eyebrow, waiting. "Okay, fine. I was worried about Winter."

"Even after I said I'd handle it?" Sapphire asked, heaving an exasperated sigh. "Follow me; we need to talk."

-

Handing Yang a can of coffee he bought from the vending machine, Sapphire sat down next to her on one of the chairs in the space before Winter's ward. Since they were the only people around, it felt needlessly large, amplifying the awkwardness of the atmosphere around them.

"What's up?" Sapphire asked. "You're supposed to be the most cheerful amongst them, but right now you're about as lighthearted as a… a… okay, I don't have an example, but you get the point. I get that this situation makes it very difficult to smile, but isn't it your job to do precisely that?"

"I know," Yang replied slowly. "But I just couldn't, not after seeing Weiss like that…"

"Because of Rose?" Sapphire asked, looking resolutely at the ground.

"Yes," Yang nodded. "When I saw Weiss so devastated over Winter's condition, I… I felt so hurt myself… as though it was Ruby who was lying there…"

Sapphire said nothing. He understood that feeling to an extent; it was the main reason why he had refused to visit Winter along with the rest of them. Even though he had guessed it, he had not expected that Yang of all people would be that depressed over this. He did not think that the blonde could even be depressed in the first place.

"I was scared," Yang admitted. "We had been going after the White Fang all this time, and now look at the things they're capable of. What if Ruby gets hurt or worse because I couldn't protect her? What if she ends up like Winter did? I got scared thinking about all that…"

"Are you planning to keep her out of future battles?" Sapphire asked, his tone strangely tense.

"Maybe that's for the best," Yang replied sadly. "I don't want her-"

"And you think that's going to solve anything?" Sapphire asked sharply, cutting across her. "How do you think Rose – Ruby – will feel when she has to worry about you while she sits back and does nothing? How hurt do you think she'll be when she doesn't know what's happening to her own sister, and can't do anything?"

Yang said nothing. She had a retort at the ready, but the hurt in Sapphire's voice made her pause. Sapphire continued, unfazed, speaking with an expression twisted with pain.

"The guy who helped us out at the warehouse," he went on. "His name is Patrick Dynes. Because of the actions he chose to take, he killed his mother and will never know what became of his father.

"He was recruited at a young age," Sapphire continued, speaking to the stunned silence left by his words. "Much younger than I was when I was recruited. I hear it was to get money for his mother's operation, which was a much better reason than mine. His Semblance allowed him to manipulate people's memories, and he was favored for espionage missions because of it. However, because he had chosen to be a mercenary, he ended up making a lot of enemies. Even if it's him, it's impossible to cover every single one of his tracks, and his enemies eventually found him."

Yang tightened the grip on the coffee can, waiting for the words she knew she did not want to hear. Having witnessed a friend suffer so much over their loved ones was bad enough.

"They started with his mother," Sapphire went on, his voice sounding extremely strained. "The one who called the shots was arrogant to heck and a sadist to boot, so they didn't kill her. They violated her, broke her limbs and left her to be found by him and his father. From what I know, she was begging him to kill her, so he euthanized her.

"I suppose I don't need to go into what happened to his mental state after that," Sapphire said. "Even if he were asked to do so, to kill his own family was something he can't come out of unscathed. I don't know what happened in the meantime, but a week later he rewrote his father's memory to make him think that he never married and had no son. Then he wiped his own memories and forgot about his own family."

"Then how did you…?" Yang trailed off, leaving the rest of the question unasked. Sapphire took a deep breath.

"I heard it from his childhood friend," he replied, his eyes becoming glossy. "His name was Tyler Morris and he was a teammate of his, as well as mine. He told me everything after I took over Pat on the team, including how Pat had a notebook he used to write down every single memory alteration he ever did. Unfortunately, he only wrote down his father as 'dad', so no matter how hard he tries he won't ever remember what he looks like or what his name is.

"Can you imagine how he feels right now?" Sapphire asked, looking at Yang. "He'll never know his own family for the rest of his life, and he'll never know how he's doing. Even if they meet, they won't recognize each other. Can you imagine what it feels like to have to worry about your family like that? You leave Ruby behind and that's all she'll ever know. Sure, she's safe, but can you bear to think of how much it'll torment her?"

"… That's fine," Yang replied after a brief period of silence. "If it means that she's safe, it's fine if she worries a little right? I'll just work harder and cover both of us-"

Sapphire had already prepared a proper response to that; he had pretty much expected this reply. However, compared to the scenario he envisioned, hearing Yang say it out loud was a lot more infuriating that he thought it would be.

"Stop."

Yang stopped, staring at Sapphire with an expression flooded with confusion. There was something familiar about that tone – it reminded her of when Sapphire swore he would kill Blake. However, this time, it was far more hostile and desperate.

"It's not just about you," he said, his voice almost dropping to a whisper. "If you die, she'll start to resent her own weakness. She'll just start to hate her inability that made you leave her behind."

"W-what're you talking about?" Yang asked.

"What can you do when you're like this?" Sapphire retorted. "Even if you don't die at the enemy's hands, you'll fall from the fatigue alone."

"Oh, please," Yang said offhandedly. "I'm more than-"

A sharp pain stuck at her neck, making her freeze. Sapphire, without making eye contact, stayed where he was, with Duskfall's blade touching her skin.

"More than what, exactly?" he asked as a small amount of blood trickled from where the tip of his blade rested. "You couldn't even activate your Aura in time."

Yang was at a loss for words. She was no slacker when it came to training, and she was a fairly competent fighter. However, even with her experience and skills, she had not managed to follow Sapphire's movements just now.

"You let your guard down, and you've just died," Sapphire hissed. "You know you're exhausted, but you're putting on a tough front. At this rate you'll just die. Even if you live, you'll cause everyone else around you to die because they have to look out for you instead. It's what happened to me. Don't make the same mistake I did, blondie."

Retracting his blade and folding up the weapon, Sapphire thrust his right hand forward, grabbing a fistful of Yang's shirt and pulling her closer violently, finally making eye contact as he glared at her with blood-red irises flaring with rage.

"My sister died because I wasn't strong enough to save her," he whispered, his voice shaky with grief. "If you die now, Ruby will think the same thing. Look at me. Look at what I've become. Do you want Ruby to walk down the same path I did? Do you want her to become lost in despair until it kills her?!

"Looking out for people you have to protect doesn't mean to lose sight of yourself," Sapphire went on, sorrow pouring out of his voice and words. "If you really care for them, look after yourself first. I won't let anyone else make the same mistakes I did. I won't let any one of you end up regretting the same errors as I've made. I won't let Ruby or anyone in your team become the monster that I am."

As Yang watched, two transparent trails fell from Sapphire's eyes, sliding down his cheeks and dripping onto the floor. His fist, still tightly clenched around her clothes, was slowly but surely losing its strength.

If this kept up, Yang would experience the same losses he once did. If she died, she would turn her own sister into another Sapphire – drowned in hatred and sorrow, baring its fangs against this unreasonable world like the mindless creature it was.

"I don't want to lose anyone else," Sapphire whispered, his energy draining out of his body with every word. His tears continued to flow despite his efforts, glowing against the light like trails of liquid silver. "So please, don't do this… Don't do this to your sister…

"If she's family, don't ever leave her side!" he screamed, every last ounce of strength thrown into that desperate plea as he let go of her shirt. "Don't make her suffer alone, and don't suffer alone when you have her, dammit…"

He may have been a former mercenary, and he may have been older than they were. He may have fought his way here, and he may be more skilled than Team RWBY's members, but in this silent space shrouded in sorrow, he was the only child who cried.

He did not want anyone else to make the same mistakes he did. He did not want to lose anyone else. Those selfish wishes dominated his thoughts, obscured his perception of others, but it was ultimately what drove his actions. Finally giving in to the excessive stress by his burdening thoughts, Sapphire lashed out at Yang, utterly losing his cool.

Staring at the ground in silence, he questioned his own purpose in saying those words. He had really meant those words, but who were they really directed at? Did he mean to direct them at Yang, or were they meant for himself?

"I understand," Yang said at last, breaking the heavy silence. Her shock that Sapphire had actually snapped like that was starting to settle down, but his words still hung ominously in her head. "Maybe I didn't think it through enough."

"No, it's my fault," Sapphire muttered. "I shouldn't have-"

The rest of his words were cut off by a surprise attack from Yang in the form of a hug. As sudden as it was, the move was effective; it rendered Sapphire absolutely speechless and froze him where he stood. It confused him to no end, at least until he remembered that Yang knew about the fact that he had a sister.

"It's as you think," he muttered, trying and failing to hold back further crying. There was nothing to hide; his words had already given him away. "She's dead. I became a mercenary out of spite because of that."

Nothing more was said, but he knew that she understood. Even though she was Yang, she was also an older sister; she had her moments of maturity every now and then.

"You're not a monster," Yang told him, repeating those words as she held the child wallowing in solitude. "Monsters don't cry like that."

He might have hated the world, and he would never be able to relive those days he spent with his sister, but as he stayed there, accepting a big sister's affection for the first time in years, there was one childish wish occupying Sapphire's mind.

He wished that this warmth would last forever.

-

"I didn't expect you to start crying as well, though," Yang commented, taking a sip of coffee.

"Yeah, yeah," Sapphire sighed, leaning back on his chair. "I'm a wuss. I get it."

"That's fine, isn't it?" Yang asked. "Little kids ought to cry every now and then."

"I'm older than you, you know," Sapphire pointed out.

"But you're a younger sibling, aren't you?"

"What kind of logic is that?" Sapphire asked. "Ah, whatever. You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"I don't see anything wrong with it," Yang said indifferently. "We all have sensitive things we don't want to talk about; I rather think it makes you more relatable than before."

"So you _do_ say some big sister-like things sometimes," Sapphire noted. "This was supposed to be a talk meant for you, not me y'know…"

"Well, it worked out well didn't it?" Yang asked, shrugging. "I got to see your crying face. It was pretty cute."

"I'll cut your hair," Sapphire threatened. Then, out of nowhere, he straightened and turned around sharply. With Duskfall in its block form, he swiftly drew a pistol from Lifesaver instead. "Someone's here."

"Put that away," Weiss commanded, appearing from around the corner. "I come in peace."

"You look better," Sapphire noted. Indeed, with the help of a considerable amount of makeup, Weiss was able to hide her signs of fatigue and crying, and with great effort she managed to act confident in front of them.

"I want in on your plan," Weiss declared. From behind her appeared Ruby and Blake, the former looking drained but alert at those words. "We all do."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow, looking to Blake and Ruby as though expecting them to stop her or say otherwise. However, all they did was stare back at him with oddly firm looks on their faces.

"What?" Weiss snapped, part of her usual vigor returning to her voice. "Did you expect me to mope around forever and not do anything? I'm a Schnee for crying out loud."

"Says the one who was crying her heart out for the past few days," Sapphire muttered under his breath. He knew that she was trying to be strong despite how she really felt, but now was not the time to piss her off by pointing it out. "Well, that's fine. I have something I want to say to you four anyway, so I suppose now's a good time."

Standing up, Sapphire walked ahead and turned around, facing the four girls who made up Team RWBY. Taking a deep breath and clearing his throat, he paused; he did not have a thing for being dramatic like Ruby did; he was just extremely reluctant to say those words.

 _Just say it_ , he cursed himself inside his head. _You used to be a mercenary; pride's not one of the things you have to worry about._

"This plan requires a team effort," he said. With another deep breath, he bowed down, his eyes directly firmly at the ground. It was difficult keeping his upper body perpendicular to his legs, but he maintained that position nonetheless. "I cannot guarantee anybody's safety if they do join. However, I can't do it alone. I need your help.

"So please, lend me your strength," he begged.

Following his words, a few seconds passed as though they were hours in silence. Ruby was genuinely shocked, Blake and Yang were somewhat exasperated, and Weiss was downright annoyed.

"What're you saying at a time like this?" she scolded. "We wouldn't be here if we weren't prepared for something like that! Who do you think we are? Tell him, Ruby!"

"E-eh?" Ruby asked, finally snapping out of it. "Y-yeah, of course! We're friends aren't we? Friends help each other out! Okay, I took that from Penny, but it doesn't matter!"

"Even if you didn't want us around, we'd still have gone with you," Blake pointed out. "Surely you've realized that much?"

"And that's how it is," Yang chipped in, smiling. "We're not going to let you challenge them alone, Sapphire."

"Is that right…" Sapphire muttered, unable to hold back a smile of his own as he lifted his head. "Guess we're gonna go risk our lives together then."

Then he saw it. Plastered onto her face in an attempt to fool everyone else, it stood out like a glaring error on her usually beautiful face. It was something he had forced onto his own face many times before, so Sapphire was well-versed with what it was.

He was sure that Yang's smile was a false one.

-

The beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound filling the space, overlapping with her gentle breathing. Wrapped in bandages and still unconscious, the once proud and powerful Winter Schnee lay unmoving on her bed.

"You look terrible," he said, walking up to the side of her bed. "But then again, you're always ugly, so I guess this is an improvement. That said, bandages don't suit you, so hurry up and get out of them, woman."

He watched her for a few minutes without another word. It was almost impossible to believe that he was looking at the same woman whose company had battled him fiercely many times over the years. It was even harder to believe that he was feeling bad over her condition.

"How did we come to this, Winter?" he asked. "You, being there, and me asking for help from your sister… We can have a good laugh about it when we're done. I'll bring her back; I'll definitely bring all of them back safely, so you better be ready to call me a jackass again when we come back."

He was not one for making promises, but when he did make one he would protect it to the end. He had only ever broken one promise in his life, and he had no intention of breaking another one now or ever again.

"We'll all come back safe and sound," Sapphire swore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sapphire's pretty honest here, which may or may not be a good thing. Yes, he can fight, but ultimately he's still somewhat a kid. There are those who move on, but unfortunately Sapphire isn't able to cast it aside easily. He might never be able to be rid of it, but then again that's who he is.
> 
> I'm not too confident about this chapter (I'm not confident about every chapter, but this one even more so); I get the feeling Sapphire's becoming more and more cliché for some reason. What do you think, dear readers? Do tell me what you think!
> 
> Until next chapter!


	4. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For what's to come, there are people he needs to apologize to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 4! I'd like to thank all the readers who have read the story till this point, and for supporting it thus far. I'm very grateful for the reviews, comments and encouragement you all have given me, and here's to another arc of CaS! Cheers!

"An apology's not going to cut it, you know."

Sapphire laughed bitterly. Patrick, for all his supposed better sense of humor, did not join in. As a matter of fact, he looked even grimmer than Sapphire, which was certainly a first.

"You know, I was never enthusiastic about having a prosthetic left arm and left leg," Pat said, taking off his left glove and revealing a metallic hand to emphasize his point. He usually wore long-sleeved shirts and jeans as well, which made it impossible to notice them except for the occasional sounds they made. It was a touchy subject Sapphire never brought up in front of him. "They're not altered for battle like Lifesaver is, and honestly they just get on my nerves. But still, they hit harder than regular limbs do, if you catch my drift."

"I'll let you hit me as many times as you want after this is all over," Sapphire replied, putting on a forced smile even though he knew that Patrick, with all his experience and losses, would definitely see through them. As the man himself liked to say, he lost two limbs so that he could use his brain over his body more, and he lost his family so that he could treasure having bonds. To a man who had managed to keep smiling even after all that, how could Sapphire possibly hope to deceive him with such a weak gesture?

"Isn't there another way?" Pat asked, not looking at him.

"No," Sapphire deadpanned, shaking his head. "If I don't use it, we'll lose everything without being able to even dispose of him. Either way, I'm going to die in the end, but you can reduce the damage I cause after I kill him."

"Then-" Pat began, but Sapphire held out his hand to stop him.

"I'm well aware that not using it is the best course of action," Sapphire said. "But you saw the photos of Schnee's office. You know that as I am right now, I can't beat him in Neutral Mode; in terms of technique, there's no way I can match him. I have to throw aside that technique for raw speed and power."

"Why can't you just-?" Pat tried, but he stopped his own question before finishing it.

"That's right," Sapphire agreed. "Combat Mode didn't work properly against Mercury. For all I know, it may be because Lifesaver was damaged and subjected to an EMP grenade I launched against Penny, but whatever. I'd say that the best I can manage would be ten minutes in Combat Mode right now. After that, the strain would be too much for my body to keep going."

"And releasing Genocide Mode would stop that?" Pat asked furiously.

Genocide Mode. The only one term that Pat was uncomfortable with saying around Sapphire. Not only was a final trump card, it was also a double-edged sword; if Sapphire ever used it, he would without a doubt destroy himself. What would become of his surroundings in the meantime before his demise was uncertain, but with a force like that on a rampage, surely nothing could stand in its way.

"It's my only hope in defeating Taurus," Sapphire said. "And no, I won't be able to stop it," he added as Patrick opened his mouth again. "Take blondie – Yang Xiao Long – as another example if you need one; those of us who possess a Semblance that alters our physical abilities all have that weakness: if the Semblance's effects grow too strong, it'll make the user lose control. 'A Semblance that affects the body alone without interfering with the external environment will react to changes to the user, and since they can alter physical abilities, they have an influence over the user just as the user has influence over the power itself. As such, they typically come with restrictions, conditions for activation or both' – I believe those were the commander's own words.

"Well, I'm lucky in that regard," Sapphire said nonchalantly, ignoring Pat's muttered 'nerd' comment. "And unlucky at the same time; because of this, without having to be close to death, I can unleash a little of my Semblance's power by simply being angry to the point of losing reason like when I did after losing Tyler and Amelia. However, it also means that-"

"When you're too close to death, your own power will make you go berserk," Patrick finished. "With Taurus's 'wilting' advancing freely in the absence of Lifesaver's restraints, you'll grow stronger and stronger by the second, and it'll be impossible to maintain your sanity, much less reason."

"So you do understand," Sapphire replied. Now that Patrick followed up with his train of thought and arrived at the same conclusion, he should be able to agree with the plan. "That's why you have to kill me before I use that power on someone else."

While Sapphire's Semblance normally granted little boost to his abilities, should he be pushed to the very edge of life and death, he would gain enough power to easily defeat even Ozpin. In a mere contest of strength and speed, he would be superior to the entirety of Beacon's staff combined at that point. However, not only would that power be too great for his body to handle, the fact that he was already that close to death only hasten his end.

Even if he would not just start off at that point, if Sapphire activated Genocide Mode, his Semblance would only grow stronger as time went on, eventually reaching that peak. At that point, for a brief few seconds of unmatched power, he had to give up his life in exchange. There was no logic in that trade-off, but Sapphire did not care; he had no time to care about logic when it came to fighting Adam Taurus – the man who had claimed the lives of countless former comrades by himself.

"How long do you think you'll have?" Pat asked flatly. Sapphire knew that with that tone, he had agreed to the task, however reluctant he might be.

"I think about five minutes," Sapphire replied. "Once I release Genocide Mode, I should be able to defeat Adam in about two minutes. I don't know for sure, since the power grows exponentially by the second, and since it's compounded by the fact that the power itself is killing me. But I think five minutes is a safe estimate, so that's three minutes worth of rampaging around."

"But you don't want me to take that estimate," Pat stated. "You want me to shoot you the instant you take out Taurus, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Sapphire replied. "Oh, and one more thing."

"For crying out loud…" Pat sighed. "You're already making me participate in your plan, you ask me to kill you, and now you want something else?"

"I need you to erase my memories of this conversation," Sapphire said. "I don't want to know that you're there and end up relying on you."

"You little…" Pat massaged his temples, muttering some less-than-friendly insults under his breath. "I give up. Do what you want."

"You're going to have to remember something terrible all by yourself again," Sapphire said, closing his eyes. He had a strange sensation in his head, feeling as though he was floating on water, carried by swaying waves. He might have felt it a few times before, but he could not recall; after all, if it was caused by Pat's Semblance, feeling it meant that he would have to end up forgetting it afterwards. "Oh, and regarding the plan, I'm going to need you to contact me on its progress but not pick up my calls; if I don't remember this-"

"You're just going to come and ask me again," Pat finished. He looked away from Sapphire, determined to not face the person whose memories he was removing even if it was requested by the person himself. It was at times like this that he was glad that his Semblance did not require physical contact, and had an effective range instead.

"Sorry about this," Sapphire smiled, and a sudden wave of giddiness washed over him. When it disappeared and he finally opened his eyes, he was sitting alone on the bench.

-

Sapphire held his breath as Ozpin consulted the piece of paper in front of him. The shades-wearing man showed no expression as usual, and was keeping silent as he read. He knew that the silence was meant to unnerve him a little, but Sapphire persevered.

"So allow me to summarize," Ozpin said flatly. "You wish to take a group of my students – one with an underage girl in it, no less – and make them partake in truancy, all just to openly challenge an armed group of skilled Faunus soldiers, with no guarantee of their safety. Does that sound about right?"

"Yes," Sapphire replied, unfazed.

"I see," Ozpin replied, interlocking his fingers as he rested them on the desk, giving off an air of absolute authority and power. "Is there something you have to say for yourself?"

Sapphire knew this was coming. As much as he dreaded it, he expected this moment. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, and forced the words out of his throat.

"Please," he said. "Pretty please," he added as an afterthought.

"Very well," Ozpin replied, offering a fraction of a smile. "I'll bend the rules a little and give them a small 'holiday' this time. However, I do expect you to put their safety as your top priority."

"Understood," Sapphire replied. He knew that Ozpin understood as well as he did that the girls in Team RWBY would not just obediently go back to being normal students after an incident like that. The headmaster definitely also knew that compared to them going out on their own, having Sapphire lead the team was a safer option with his experience as a former mercenary. Thus, this was the most logical choice to make. "I'll do my best."

"I don't need your best," Ozpin said firmly. "I need you to ensure their safety. Can you do that?"

"I-" Sapphire began, but cut himself off. "I… You know what became of my previous comrades. I can't make guarantees that-"

"But now, you're willing to lower your head to ask for help," Ozpin pointed out. Sapphire's eyes widened, but the headmaster paid him no heed. "You even cried openly in front of someone else. I'd say enough changes have occurred for the past's failures to be irrelevant now."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sapphire lied shamelessly. However, he was unable to remove the violent blush from his face, leaving his embarrassment so obvious that it did not take an Ozpin to figure it out. Now that he thought about it, the hospital naturally had security cameras, so this should not have been a surprise. That was a stupid mistake.

"With that in mind, I'll ask again," Ozpin said, smiling wider. "Can you do it? Can you bring them back safely?"

No reply came, and Sapphire stood there for a few seconds. Ozpin said nothing to break the resulting silence, waiting him out. At last, Sapphire took a deep breath, closed his eyes briefly, and finally gave his answer:

"We will."

-

Blake breathed in the evening air, letting the warmth from the setting sun wash over her body as she stepped onto the roof. It felt oddly relaxing, which made the Faunus wonder why she did not come here more often before.

"Sapphire," she called out. She could have sworn he jumped a little at that, which was odd; last time, she had tailed him covertly, and he had sensed her easily then. Now, when she was openly walking up to him, he seemed to be surprised. Was he distracted by something?

"What's up?" he asked.

"Weiss called," Blake informed him. "She said that she's having trouble convincing the remaining directors to do it, but Winter's regained consciousness and is backing her on it. Did you do something?"

"No," Sapphire said honestly. "I did plan to ask Pat to help if she got rejected, but it seems there's no need. Just as well, too; that idiot's not picking up my calls…"

"Jaune's very curious about the details of the plan, though," Blake pointed out. "Ever since Ruby started wearing that eye patch, he's been pestering us about the details."

"That's why I told her not to wear it so early…" Sapphire sighed. "But it's Rose we're talking about… Well, once Schnee comes back, I'll fill you all in so tell Arc to be patient."

As much as he did not want too many people with knowledge about the operation, Sapphire owed Team JNPR for the assistance provided in the concert incident. That debt only got bigger with them agreeing to guard Winter in Team RWBY's absence, so there was no escaping this one.

"What're you doing up here by yourself?" Blake asked. "Wukong told me you were called to the headmaster's office after beating up a few students."

"Hmm... 'Wukong', huh?" Sapphire muttered, making Blake's eyes widen and her ears twitch awkwardly in place of a blush. "I believe you know some of them; one of 'em was the jackass who yanked on your ears before. The other two were repeat offenders who thought Scarlatina was easy prey."

"W-what did the headmaster say?" Blake asked. She did not know how and when, but Sapphire had struck a deal with students like Yang and Coco, saying that if they ever wanted to beat the crap out of someone, they should tell him and let him do it since he could not be expelled. "You didn't get into trouble, did you?"

"He wasn't amused," Sapphire replied. "Goodwitch was particularly pissed that I used Schnee's Scroll to browse porn websites, but- wait, did I just say that out loud?"

"Alright, what really happened?" Blake sighed. She knew these little tricks of Sapphire's pretty well by now. "And if you try to distract me with my calling W-Wukong's name, I'll take a leaf from Weiss's book and impale you."

"Why're you assuming something's wrong?" Sapphire asked. Blake did not reply, but he understood: he almost always came here when he had something to ponder about, and those things were usually depressing topics he did not like to share. He was just not aware that it was so obvious. "Bah, alright, I'll tell you… Just don't tell anyone else, okay?"

"Do you really need to ask me that?" Blake asked exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry," Sapphire said. Without looking at a stunned Blake, he took a few seconds to finish his sentence. "I may have to kill your closest comrade."

Those were not the words that reflected his worries, and they were not the reason for him coming up here. However, when he thought of what he had done, along with what was about to transpire, he could not help but say those words.

"I may have to kill Adam Taurus with my own hands," he finished, his eyes a familiar scarlet hue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is a continuation of this, but it won't be called 'Apologies Pt. 2'. As a matter of fact, it's called 'Regrets'. Not gonna spoil its contents, but you're free to guess!
> 
> I admit that Genocide Mode is effectively Sapphire's 'overpowered mode' button, but hey, when he becomes overpowered, he will lose his life, so let the guy go out with a bang yeah? I'm not trying to say he's gonna die; I'm just laying out the serious repercussions so that a certain idiot fully understands what his own weapon does. Not that he's the kind to care, but still…
> 
> Anyway, see you next chapter!


	5. Regrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had no right to regret, but in the end, he was merely human.

"What… did you just say?"

Sapphire kept silent, not answering Blake's question. He refused to meet her eyes, instead opting for staring into the distance, as though that had been tested and proven to be effective before.

On some level, she must have known this was going to happen someday. If she thought about it long enough, she should have seen it coming. As a matter of fact, Blake _had_ seen it coming, but actually hearing it was another matter altogether.

"You know, there are times I wonder if I shouldn't be here," Sapphire said, still refusing to look at Blake. Was he still trying to change the topic and avoid continuing what he was saying? "If I hadn't come here, maybe things wouldn't be so bad."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"If I hadn't come here, you wouldn't have revealed your Faunus ears," Sapphire replied. "Because of me, you're targeted by scum like Winchester. If I hadn't interfered with your lives, you could have avoided all that and lived normally. Sorry."

Blake said nothing. It was easy to reply to those words, to tell him that she did not blame him, but she did not; even though she could not explain how or why, Blake knew that there was something else plaguing him. There was more than just that reason for his apology, which carried a weight far greater than any emotion his words carried before.

"I don't have the right to regret," Sapphire went on. "So all I can do is to apologize… Even though after all those things – trying to kill you, getting Team JNPR hurt, failing to save Winter – apologizing isn't going to solve anything.

"If only I hadn't come here, you four would have been happily studying like the students you're supposed to be," Sapphire's voice sounded odd, as though he was choking on something. "If it wasn't for my presence, you wouldn't be in so much danger… And now, even after all I said about not wanting others to suffer what I did, I'm going to personally put you through that suffering. Talk about being a hypocrite."

"Why… do you want to kill Adam?" Blake asked, her voice steady and her gaze firm.

"Hate," Sapphire answered simply. "He's killed so many of my comrades, so I can't forgive him. I won't say that he was wrong to do so, though; in fact, in a kill or be killed situation, he was justified."

"Then-" Blake began.

"But it doesn't change the fact that he killed them," Sapphire cut across her. "I don't care if it's justified or not; I'm going to kill him for revenge. That's all there is to it."

Finally he turned, looking at Blake with scarlet eyes. It felt like ages ago since she last experienced this phenomenon up close, and now that she was looking at it again, Blake shivered.

Even though the color did not change, the glow emanating from those ruby-red irises flickered every now and then. While they pulsated with energy, they also felt oddly… fragile this time.

"Or what?" Sapphire asked, his mouth deforming into a twisted smile. While sinister-looking, his lips were also quivering a little. "Did you think I was some goody two-shoes and that I won't kill him? I used to be a mercenary, Belladonna; killing people is second nature to me.

"I'm not going to stop with Taurus, you know," he went on, his expression filled with nothing but malice and twisted humor. "Once I remove the limiters on Lifesaver, I'll regain my bloodlust, see. When that happens, I'll kill every last one of you. If you want to stop me, unsheathe your sword and-"

"Drop the act."

Sapphire froze. Blake's three simple words had been unnaturally sharp, snapping him out of his façade instantly. He had thought his acting was convincing enough, but for Blake to see through it so easily was unexpected to say the least.

"What happened to 'preventing anyone else from suffering the same things you did'?" Blake asked fiercely. "If you want to bluff your way out of it, choose something that's not so contradictory. Besides, weren't you just apologizing a while ago?"

"I- You- That is- Ah, screw it," Sapphire sighed, sitting down on the edge of the rooftop. He was feeling strangely tired all of a sudden. "What else gave me away?"

"You're easy to read," Blake answered. "You may not be a terrible liar like Ruby is, but your expressions are straightforward. Besides, you were crying while trying to act tough."

Sapphire choked, hastily wiping his eyes with an arm as he muttered countless different curses, all in different languages. The conversation with Yang had a greater impact on him than he initially believed, which was a bad sign.

"My bad, my bad…" he said. "I should have prepped myself better mentally. Dammit, blondie…"

"Would you care to explain?" Blake asked, sitting down next to him.

"I was supposed to ask Pat to do this, but the jackass wouldn't pick up my calls," Sapphire explained. "You remember the time we were attacked by the Grimm in the Emerald Forest, and you… froze? At that time I released the safety on Lifesaver. That's Combat Mode. There's a mode above that – Genocide Mode – and if I use it I'll become unable to remain sane. When that happens, I need someone to stop me before I end up destroying everything.

"I know it freaking means I have to make you dirty your hands," he added, as Blake opened her mouth. "But I don't have a choice; if I let that power-"

"That's not what I wanted to say," Blake sighed. "I was going to ask why you had to use that. Honestly, why are you such a pessimist? You should learn from Wukong and think less excessively; your brain will overheat, or so he puts it."

"That explains the lack of clothes," Sapphire muttered. "And here I was thinking that he just did it to seduce you."

"A-anyway," Blake stammered a little. Her face was somewhat red, but of course it could just be because of the sunset. "There's always a choice. Don't try to find excuses and don't try to come up with ways to deal with its aftermath; if you don't like it, don't do it. Choose."

_We don't have a choice._

Adam's words echoed in her ears, refuting Blake's. Back then, she had said the same words to him, but he had denied it vehemently. Sapphire, who resented the world with a passion, would more likely share Adam's view than hers. However, that did not deter Blake from saying what she did; even if it would be refuted, she did not want to give up on that ideal.

"Choice, huh…" Sapphire muttered. "I've grown up hating the world and everything in it, and there's never been such a thing as 'choice'; not in my profession, nor in my life as an individual. I can't believe in something that, to me, doesn't exist.

"But," he added, raising his voice to stop Blake from following up with whatever retort she had in mind. "I'll admit I didn't kill you out of my own volition, so I can't deny the possibility exists, even for me. I see your point, Belladonna. I do. But I can't just stop hating him."

Someone once told him that he was not a monster. Someone once told him that he had a heart. However, if that was true, it would only mean that he was capable of negative emotions such as hate. For him – someone who had no right to regret his actions – moving forward was all he was capable of. What better way was there than letting his hatred and anger fuel his progress?

"It's fine," Blake replied, throwing her head back and staring at the vermilion sky overhead. "I know hate's not something you can just toss aside so easily; Adam was like that as well… But… This time, it's your choice. I have faith you'll make the right one."

"Whoa, such a cheesy line," Sapphire muttered flatly. "I'm surprised you can say it with a straight face… But tell me: where does that 'faith' of yours come from?"

"What're you talking about?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't Ruby already make it clear enough? Because we're friends."

Sapphire opened his mouth to say something, most likely to say something sarcastic, but nothing came out so he shut it like the intelligent man he must have looked like right then.

Truthfully, he had never expected those cringe-worthy words to ever be directed at him, much less without sarcasm. If Luke or Pat knew about this, they would definitely have died of laughter right then and there.

"Well, thanks for that," he finally managed. "Hey, Bella-"

"Blake?" Sun's voice came from behind them, followed by the familiar 'yips' from a certain pet that Blake feared so much. "Oh, there you are! Thanks, little fella."

"Wukong?" Blake said, but her face paled at the sight of Zwei, wagging his tail happily as Sun patted him. "W-why are you with that monster?!"

"I was looking for you, and this lil' guy's real good at tracking you down," Sun explained. "What're the two of you doing here?"

"Dammit," Sapphire swore aloud. "This was unexpected, but whatever. We're eloping, Blakey! C'mon!"

"Wha-?" Blake barely managed to finish her question, what with Sapphire suddenly carrying her in his arms and jumping off the roof.

"Sorry, monkey boy!" Sapphire yelled in mid descent. "She's mine now!"

The aftermath was probably going to be bloody, and his currently healing arm was probably going to need a cast again, but he did not care. Now that he did not get to finish that unasked question, he was running from it like a child; hiding behind a forced laughter tinged with some genuine happiness, Sapphire feared the thoughts that swam in his own head.

He was having regrets. Even though he did not have that right – not after living a life that exists only because others died for him – Sapphire Fall was regretting all of it.

He regretted forming those bonds. He regretted feeling happy. He regretted coming to know this warmth, since he would lose it all in the end; the moment he murders Taurus, or maybe even before that, he would have crushed all these precious memories with his own bloodstained hands.

He had intended to ask Blake that question, but it ended up haunting his thoughts instead. Worst of all, he had no answer for it:

Which would he end up regretting more – destroying all this warmth and happiness, or giving up on his revenge?

-

Sapphire leaned against the wall, having sought refuge inside the locker room. He managed to pilfer Gambol Shroud, but Blake had managed to borrow Sun's weapon after explaining everything, and was threatening to ram it down his throat.

For someone who had several bruises on her body, she sure moved around a lot. It might have been her way of showing him that she was alright, but she seemed to really want him to eat that staff, so he could not be sure.

Just as he was about to leave, Sapphire stopped dead in his tracks. There was someone outside, standing beside the door but not entering despite the door being wide open. For a moment, he had thought it was Blake (since Sun did not have the ability to sneak up on him), but the hostility emanating from this person was far too intense.

"Can I help you?" Sapphire asked. He took a step back, putting more distance between him and the door, where upon closer inspection had been rigged with simple wire traps. They were basic ones that could be set up in just a few seconds – Mercury's favorite – and could be dismantled just as easily, but he would have to be an idiot beyond cure if he tried disarming it right in front of the enemy.

"You're the one who calls yourself Sapphire?" a woman's voice asked back. It was not altered by any form of machinery, so this person was either using some form of Semblance to alter their voice or was someone Sapphire did not know.

"You're oozing with killing intent without confirming my identity?" Sapphire asked. Her phrasing was weird, but he let that slide.

"You're the one who defeated Mercury," she said, her level of hostility rising.

"What's it matter to you?" Sapphire asked. Then he remembered the trap. "You're his partner, aren't you?"

"I see," the woman replied, taking his reply as affirmation. "Then I'll make sure I kill you myself."

With that, Sapphire knew she was not the masked assailant he had battled back then; that woman had been calm in the heat of battle, even when he kept pulling out surprise moves out of nowhere. She was certainly not someone who would get enraged over losing a comrade.

 _So there're at least three of them, including Mercury,_ Sapphire thought. "Well, want to try now? We'll have to be quiet so guards don't come running, though."

"I'm not stupid enough to engage you here," Emerald scoffed on the other side of the door. "The reinforcements are already coming, after all."

"So you can tell," Sapphire said, deactivating the SOS signal that Lifesaver was sending out; if she knew it could send out various signals to draw in Grimm and as such could be altered to call for help, there was a possibility she could disable Lifesaver with advanced machinery that way. "Can I interpret this conversation as a declaration of war?"

"It's not war," Emerald replied, walking off. Cinder may have thought his real name to be important, but she did not care; the fact that he defeated Mercury was more than enough for her. "I'm just going to slaughter you."

"Is that right?" Sapphire asked. If she was able to retreat after detecting the SOS signal, then she was not a complete idiot. That jackass Mercury lucked out.

"Got yourself a good woman, didn't you?" he muttered under his breath. "Sneaky bastard."

-

The room was dark and completely void of light. Nothing could be seen, and nothing was heard until the violent sound of tearing paper exploded across the space.

He did not recall having ever read something so infuriating. Then again, there were few people who made a fool of the White Fang so openly and lived. No, he was sure that he had taken out every single last one of them.

Another ignorant human – a Schnee, no less – had decided to defile their pride. This insult was unforgivable, and he would ensure that they paid the price with their blood, bones and flesh. Even then, his anger would not be appeased; he would have to sever their very souls for that.

He was in charge of this mission. This time, not even that woman would get a say in it. He would crush these insolent insects, and with their carcasses as his trophy, he would show the world their foolishness for opposing the White Fang.

The shadows recoiled at his presence, scurrying away pitifully from his murderous aura even though there was nowhere to run or hide. Right now, he was an entity more fearsome than darkness itself.

Gnashing his teeth fiercely and eyes aflame with white-hot fury, Adam Taurus reached for his mask – the face of a monster, and the symbol of his unyielding, unmatched power.

If they wanted to suffer that badly, he would make their world burn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this one; I had trouble writing the transitions between the scenes…
> 
> And there's Emerald, getting some screen time but not a lot. Meh.
> 
> Anyway, see you next chapter!


	6. Call Sign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Extra Chapter. Sapphire gets a new call sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 5.5! 
> 
> These .5 chapters are extra chapters and can be really long or extremely short depending on the content, and they don’t affect the story in any way. Sometimes they can be requests, sometimes they can be a backstory and whatnot, but you don’t need to read these chapters so feel free to skip them.
> 
> This one's a little of both; it's a backstory for Sapphire and it's somewhat a reply to a reader's question: if Sapphire was based off someone, like how Ruby was from the little red riding hood and all that. Yes, he is, and Sapphire is based off Grimm, and is a take on what monsters would be like with human emotions.
> 
> By Grimm, I mean the creatures like Beowolves and Ursi and Nevermores etc. When his Semblance is at high levels, his eyes turn red. Given how his hair is black and his face substitutes for the mask-like skulls they have, in that aspect he resembles the creatures physically as well. I'd elaborate, but that'll take up too much space, so have an extra chapter instead:

“My Call Sign?”

Sapphire looked up from polishing his weapon, raising an eyebrow at his partner. 

“Yeah,” Mercury replied, shrugging. “Everyone has one, and you were formerly part of the army, right? What’s yours?”

“… Season,” Sapphire answered somewhat reluctantly. 

There was a short period of silence, before Mercury burst into fits of laughter, clutching his stomach.

“That’s the lamest thing I’ve heard all year,” he said between intakes of air. “Oh, man… It sucks… It sucks so much, Saph…”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, ‘Macbeth’,” Sapphire fired back. He had no idea what on Remnant a Macbeth was supposed to be, but it sounded weird so he did not care; if he could make fun of Mercury with it, he was satisfied.

“Hey, fellas,” their current team leader, Tyler Morris, yelled from another room. “We got a new mission! Debrief in five!”

“Not again,” Sapphire complained, wearing his overly complicated boots. Ever since he had been chosen as the test pilot for the Mobile Armory Combat Boots (MACB) alongside Mercury, the number of missions they were forced to do increased every day, on grounds of ‘gathering data’. Apparently it had something to do with that set of prosthetic legs he and Luke stole from the Schnee warehouse.

“How’re you coping with those shoes?” Mercury asked, patting his own. “If you have any questions, just ask the pro, yeah?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Sapphire groaned. As far as the boots were concerned, he had not managed anything beyond firing bullets with his kicks. Mercury, on the other hand, had pulled off bullets, grenades and once a hidden knife. 

“Say, we should probably get you a new call sign,” Mercury said. “Something that only this team calls you by, you know?”

“Good idea, Merc,” Amelia Anderson – the only woman on the team and Tyler’s girlfriend – agreed as she entered the room. “Season sounds kinda odd anyway.”

“Weren’t you making out with Tyler?” Sapphire asked curiously. The greatest problem with sharing their living quarters with a couple was the fact that Tyler and Amelia made love to each other after every mission – a problem made worse by the increase in missions lately. And the fact that the walls were paper thin.

“Now, now, Saph,” Mercury said lightly as Amelia clenched her fist. “The term is ‘made out with’; she can’t be here if she’s still making out, right?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Sapphire replied, ducking as Amelia took a swing for his head. 

“Tell me, Saph,” Amelia said nicely, smiling as she managed to get him in a headlock. “Why is the first thing you associate me with, of all things, having sex? I. Really. Wonder!” 

“Alright, wrap it up, kids,” Tyler announced, walking into the room without a shirt just as Amelia tightened her hold. He always had a thing for showing off the tattoos on his back, which also gave Mercury the bright idea of making his call sign ‘exhibitionist’. Thankfully, the idea was shot down in the end. “Although I do agree with Merc’s idea of giving Saph a new call sign. How about ‘jewel’?”

Sapphire froze. His fingers, wrapped around Amelia’s arms, stopped trying to pry them away and started trembling at that word.

_You’ll always be my little ‘Jewel’._

His sister’s voice echoed in his head, gentle and mellow, yet forever distant. For just a brief moment, it felt like the world had gone cold, threatening to freeze him where he stood.

“Okay, maybe not,” Tyler corrected himself, reading Sapphire’s mood. If there was one thing he mastered after doing several undercover missions, it was the ability to read other people openly. “How about we ask Ozzy to help us think of one?”

“Yeah, and get him a worse one than ‘Season’,” Mercury scoffed. “Remember when Pat was still here and he was the leader? Ozzy was the one who named the team PATM (Platinum). You really want that guy to give him a call sign?”

“Fair point,” Tyler conceded. “Well, whatever. Now’s not the time for that; let’s move on to the agenda at hand. Our mission this time is a simple raid; we go in and destroy all the droids the White Fang has been amassing since last month, and then we scram. Follow me so far?”

“Estimated resistance?” Sapphire asked, managing to recover as Amelia let go of him. 

“Unknown,” Tyler replied. “They were still getting more at the time our scouts discovered the place, but the minimum number is around fifty Atlesian Knight-130s, along with no less than twenty soldiers. We also have reports of humans doing maintenance on the robots there, so it’ll be lively to say the least.”

“There’re humans working with the White Fang?” Mercury asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“They were kidnapped and forced to work on the machines,” Amelia answered for her boyfriend, flipping through some documents. “Remember the lab we wrecked two weeks ago? The humans are replacements for the lab coats we killed back then.”

“So it’s a raid and rescue mission?” Sapphire asked. 

“No, it’s just a raid,” Tyler replied. “We’re paid to trash the place, not free the prisoners; there’s nothing in it for us worth that much trouble. We’ll eliminate them if they get in our way.”

“Roger that,” Mercury replied, stifling a yawn as he leaned back on the sofa.

Sapphire said nothing. There were many times in the past where something like this had happened, and each time he was forcefully reminded of how different they were from him; they were the real mercenaries, fighting and killing for money without care for anything else. If it was not in the mission’s details, they would not bother saving anyone. No matter how friendly they acted and how much they smiled, joked, or loved, they were still cold-blooded murderers at heart. Why was it that he could not be like them?

“Mission will take place at ten-zero-zero tomorrow morning,” Tyler announced. “Rest up properly; that means no sparring today, Merc and Saph. Alright, dismissed!”

-

“North section, clear,” Mercury’s voice declared in Sapphire’s earbud. 

“West section, clear,” Amelia said. She sounded like she was panting heavily, and Sapphire had absolutely no doubt as to why; she and Tyler were definitely kissing violently before the mission again.

“South section, clear,” Sapphire said, performing a quick check on the MACB. 

“Good work, kid,” a man’s voice replied after a few minutes, sounding rather amused.

Sapphire stiffened, looking around hastily as though hoping to see the owner of that voice. His eyes scanned the nearby foliage, but as he had expected, the man was nowhere to be seen.

“Qrow,” he said with as much venom as he could muster. He was not even going to bother wondering how he had managed to hack the team’s channel.

“I’m glad you remember me,” Qrow said, sounding genuinely pleased. “I don’t have time, so I’ll get straight to the point though: abandon this mission. It’s beyond you.”

“Wha-” Sapphire began, but a heavy burst of static drowned out everything else. 

“Season!” Mercury’s panicked voice rang in his ear after the static finally died down. “Season! Do you copy?”

“Season copies,” Sapphire replied. “What’s the sit-”

“We’re already in here,” Mercury yelled over the sounds of gunshots in the background. “Comms are finally back up. Get your ass in here!”

-

Sapphire crouched, evading the android’s sloppy punch. With one forceful thrust, he buried Daybreak’s blade into the robot’s face, instantly cutting off all its functions. 

Pulling out his blade and using the body of the robot as a shield, he sprinted forward a few steps before kicking it into the androids equipped with guns, momentarily stunning them. Using that opening, Sapphire reached into his vest pocket, pulled out a Dust Grenade, yanked off the pin and threw it.

The explosion did not hurt him, but some scraps of metal grazed his skin as they flew by. They were not heavy wounds, but they had been intentionally received; Sapphire’s running speed increased by a little after starting to bleed. His eyes, instead of their usual amber, were now a light shade of blue.

“Macbeth, Romeo, Juliet,” he called desperately into his mic. He had never been a fan of shouting those weird names, especially since he had no idea what they were supposed to mean, but those thoughts were nowhere to be found right now. “Someone respond!”

Stopping abruptly in his charge, Sapphire brought up one leg in a front snap kick, firing off two bullets from the side of the MACB as he did so. The bullets caught the robot down the hall off-guard, piercing into its back and blowing it up.

“Tyler!” Sapphire exclaimed, smashing down the door. His leader gave him a brief look, supporting a bloodied arm as he tried to catch his breath. Amelia was next to him, barely standing amongst a clutter of scrap metal. “Amelia! You alright? Where’s Mercury?”

“Stick to call signs, you dolt,” Tyler groaned, throwing away the submachine gun in his hand. “Merc’s on the way here… We’ve finally managed to rid the jamming somewhat, but not completely, so we’ll be moving as a team from this point onwards.”

“We have to get out of here,” Sapphire said, not bothering to hide his sense of urgency. “There’re too many robots here; this wasn’t part of the plan. We can’t beat-”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Tyler snapped, tearing off the heavy machine gun attached to the arm of one of the robots. “We quit now, we fail the mission. We’re not gonna get paid, y’know?”

“Who cares?!” Sapphire yelled. “The money can’t be worth your life, right?!”

“We’re mercenaries, Sapphire!” Tyler fired back. “Putting our lives on the line is nothing new. Now stop being a whiny piece of-”

An explosion cut off the rest of his insult, blowing Tyler back a few meters and sending him crashing into the wall. Amelia, reacting quickly, rolled away, narrowly avoiding the next energy beam that burned a hole through the ground she once stood. 

Sapphire, having nowhere to run, charged at this new foe that had appeared out of nowhere – a robot with two cannon for arms, and a larger bazooka-like object on its back. He had no idea what were its combat capabilities, and it was an entirely new model he had never encountered before, but Sapphire did not have the luxury of time to think this through.

The robot raised its arm, and a white beam shot out almost instantly. Relying on his reflexes, Sapphire managed to swerve around it, but the attack still burned the skin on his arm. At this point, his eyes glowed brighter, remaining blue as Sapphire’s sprint became faster. It was not a significant increase, but it would do.

Before he could regain his momentum, Sapphire flew backwards, slammed violently in the gut by a surprise attack; the robot had fired off its own cannon as a blunt weapon, catching him unawares. 

Sitting against the wall he had crashed into, Sapphire’s whole body shook as he let blood drip out of his mouth. Even though his Semblance was active, the pain rendered him immovable as he put all his willpower into just staying conscious.

“Son of a…” he groaned, staring at the enemy. The robot produced what looked like a giant knife from inside its arm, after losing the cannon. It looked between him and Tyler, probably assessing which target was a greater threat to be eliminated first.

“Tyler… Sapphire…” Amelia muttered, standing up. She was the least injured of them all, but she had been hiding behind a crate so far, which hid her from the machine. The moment she did, however, the robot noticed her at last. 

It fired a thick beam of energy, utterly destroying the crate she had been seeking refuge behind. Amelia managed to get out of the way in time, running towards her boyfriend. 

That was a fatal mistake. For mercenaries, who fought with their lives on the line, romance was nothing but a joke; they were told to harness a killing intent from the slightest of emotion, but affection was something that only hindered logical thinking and produced nothing in return. In that sense, perhaps she had already made a colossal mistake the moment she decided to fall in love.

_Get along with your next partner, ya hear?_

As he looked, as he helplessly watched, Sapphire remembered those words. Luke’s words, like a curse tormenting his spirit, clung to the stale air that reeked of burning flesh.

Amelia stared, transfixed with horror, as Tyler fell to his knees. She was on the floor, pushed away by her boyfriend, just moments before a beam of pure white tore through his body instead, cleanly obliterating a part of his spine.

“Tyler!” Amelia screamed, losing all sense of the mission at hand. She was no longer even capable of fighting at that moment, holding her dying boyfriend in her arms as he bled. Even from where he was, Sapphire knew that Tyler would not make it; in a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds, Tyler Morris would have breathed his last. “Ty! Come on! Don’t do this to me! Don’t do this… Don’t… Please…”

“Look out…” Sapphire tried raising his voice, but all that came out was a weak groan. He wanted to close his eyes, to avert his gaze, but before he could even try to escape from it, reality attacked.

Amelia’s eyes went wide, letting go of Tyler as her body lost all strength. Blood poured from her shaky lips and her gaze became more and more distant, adding to her current state of shock and confusion.

The robot withdrew its arm, pulling its knife out of her heart. Amelia collapsed easily, like a marionette with cut strings, slumping over while Tyler watched. He was dying, and he could not move, but he could still see. In the end, that was all he did.

Even as he slowly breathed his last, all Tyler Morris could do was watch his beloved die.

For Sapphire, something snapped. It was not the first time he had seen people die, but it was the first time he had seen his own teammates die right in front of his eyes. 

His sister. Luke. Tyler. Amelia. Why did the people around him have to die, and why must he have to be powerless to do anything about it? 

_Why? Why? Why?_

His mind screamed, and his eyes flared. For the first time since he was nine, Sapphire Fall’s eyes burned with a vengeful, deep red.

The pain lessened, and the world began to slow down. The walking piece of junk seemed to have noticed and approached, but it was far too slow. Unlike the incompetent machine whose steps were slow and clumsy, Sapphire’s body was completely unaffected. There was no question as to who would get destroyed. 

Roaring with bloodlust, he charged.

-

Mercury had seen many things during his time as a mercenary, and amongst the various people who had gone down fighting he had seen what they called a ‘berserker’. He pitied those fools; they were more or less guaranteed to die, and in their last minute struggle they threw everything into a wild charge, akin to that of a mindless beast. They were not only nothing to be feared, but they were also pathetic to look at.

But when he saw Sapphire’s rampage, he could not help but be shaken.

With one hand, he crushed the head of the robot easily, and with a roundhouse kick faster than anything he had been capable of before, Sapphire broke the robot in two.

His eyes, two blood-red rubies emanating with a furious glow, glared towards the horde of incoming machines. That gaze alone summoned more killing intent that Sapphire had ever managed in his time as a mercenary, and could probably overshadow even Mercury’s. 

With a powerful leap, Sapphire jumped high into the air. While still in mid-air, he kicked towards the robots and fired off a small missile.

The missile blew apart the front few robots, and Sapphire used the recoil to stay in the air a little longer. Turning his body while descending to perform a roundhouse kick, Sapphire cut apart all the remaining robots with a thin laser beam from the MACB he wore, sweeping the entire space in front of him.

Immediately after landing, Sapphire charged towards the robots, which were all broken beyond moving any further as is. With a bestial shriek, he proceeded to violently rip apart their remains, tossing them away just as crudely. 

“Sapph-” Mercury began, but at that moment the MACB that Sapphire wore suddenly opened fire with a hail of bullets. He had not heard of the boots being capable of firing without a kicking action, which made his reaction somewhat sloppy. Nonetheless, he managed to evade it, even if it resulted in him taking a bullet to the shoulder.

Screaming as though he was in pain, Sapphire kicked upwards, releasing a wave of flares which exploded against the wall. Immediately after that, blades protruded from the tip of his boots, allowing him to further dismantle the already broken machines and wreck the entire warehouse.

His face was contorted with rage, but the more he continued to destroy everything around himself, the more the boy’s cheeks became stained with the tracks of his own tears. 

Even then, he did not stop in his rampage. Like a ravenous beast let off its leash, the child crushed everything in his path without discrimination. Even amongst the higher ups, there were people who referred to him, to this phenomenon, as such:

They called him ‘the Grimm-like child’.

-

Sapphire woke to the smell of medication. He slowly opened his eyes to the same white ceiling he had already gotten sick of seeing, as well as to a face he was not entirely enthusiastic to see either.

“How’re you feeling?” Ozpin asked, putting down his Scroll. 

“What happened?” Sapphire asked back instead of replying.

“Your partner will fill you in on the finer details later,” Ozpin replied. “All you need to know right now is that the mission was a success; the entire warehouse was utterly destroyed and the White Fang-”

“Tyler and Amelia…” Sapphire muttered, remembering the events before he lost consciousness. “They’re dead.”

“Yes, they are,” Ozpin said flatly. 

“If the warehouse is destroyed…” Sapphire choked on his words a bit. “The humans… are they…”

“Yes,” Ozpin replied. “You and ‘Macbeth’ are the only people who made it out alive.”

_People died again._

Sapphire’s voice got stuck in his throat, and a burning sensation filled his eyes.

_People died again because of me._

He bit back the tears. There was no point in crying, because there was no point in having worthless things like emotions. Not only had he been so weak that he could not protect his teammates, he had been so pathetic that he lost to his own rage. What good were emotions if this was all they ever accomplished?

“Tell me, Sapphire,” Ozpin said. “Why did you go on a rampage like that?”

Sapphire did not reply; holding back his tears was taking too much effort for him to be able to answer Ozpin right now.

“You lost your cool over the loss of your teammates, did you not?” Ozpin asked. Again, Sapphire did not reply, but Ozpin could have sworn he saw a small nod from the boy. “Then I’m glad.

“I’ve seen many mercenaries before,” he went on, unfazed by Sapphire’s look of surprise and outrage. “Everyone at some point in time throws away their heart and kills because the mission demanded it. They’ve become machines that do nothing but kill. Your rage, however, is proof that you still have a ‘heart’, and it’s solid evidence that you don’t live solely for fighting.”

Sapphire gritted his teeth. Why was this man telling him this? Why would he believe that such worthless things such as feelings and heart have value? Why was he consoling him, instead of reprimanding him?

“Your anger for them proves you have a caring heart,” Ozpin said. “It is that sentiment you possess that convinces me that hope still remains.”

At that, the man stood up, looking at the child whose control was finally starting to crumble. Sapphire’s lips were quivering, and his eyes were brimming with tears that, for now, were still held in.

“I have high expectations for you, Cloudburst,” Ozpin said with a benign smile. “It’s your new call sign; it was the word that came to mind when I saw you at the warehouse. And I guess it’s true even now as well,” he added, walking away.

But it was already too late. Clenching his fists tightly, Sapphire let the white-hot tears flow freely down his face.

They said he was like a Grimm, but monsters did not cry. They called him a monster, but at that moment, Sapphire Fall was more human than anyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just FYI, cloudburst is a proper word.
> 
> Also, the events here have been mentioned all the way back in Chapter 7. Don’t know if you still remember, but if you do, well done!
> 
> Feel free to request something you’d like to see if it comes up, and don’t be shy! I don’t guarantee that I’ll definitely be able to write it, but I’ll try my best.
> 
> Till next chapter, fellas!


	7. Debriefing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapphire fills RWBY and JNPR in on the next step to take.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 6! 
> 
> The action’s gonna be starting soon, which is actually pretty early for an arc, but don’t worry, you’ll see why :)
> 
> Also, it’s way too early for this, but now that I’ve finally decided I’ll say it: yes, there will be a sequel to this story, even though this is plenty long by itself. There’ll be a small teaser of sorts at the end of this entire story, but for now, let’s not get carried away…
> 
> Anyway, moving on!

“Ozpin speaking.”

“Good mornin’!” an extremely cheerful voice greeted. “Frustratingly Underpaid Civilian Killers at your service! If you want someone brutally murdered, elegantly killed or just simply dead, give us a call! If our name’s too long for you, remember us as F.U.C-”

“What can I do for you, Mr. Dynes?” Ozpin asked with an exasperated smile. He had not heard from Patrick Dynes in a long time, and he had certainly not expected a call now.

“Well, y’see, Saph’s made me run some errands,” Pat replied. “So I had to do a wide-area memory alteration. As a result, they’re unconscious all over the place, and-”

“How did you manage that?” Ozpin asked. Last he heard, Patrick’s Semblance was currently in a state where excessive usage would either mess his own memories permanently or cost him his life. “Did you use ‘Overdrive’?”

Overdrive was a substance the ‘mad scientists’ – the engineers and chemists who served as support for mercenaries like Sapphire who went into the field – had come up with to amplify the effects of Aura. Even those with poor Aura control could become temporarily invulnerable upon consuming the liquid (which apparently tasted like fermented Ursa pee, whatever that tasted like; the description was courtesy of a certain blue-eyed dual-wielder). Some individuals had been shown to face peculiar side effects, namely death from excessive and continuous Aura discharge, temporary paralysis and even the momentary strengthening of one’s Semblance.

Patrick, having fallen into the last category, could use it to increase the range of his Semblance. If he consumed enough of it, it was fully possible to cover the entirety of Vale. However, having abused it to compensate for losing his arm and leg, he ended up in his current state where using his Semblance was dangerous.

“It was just lying there,” Pat replied nonchalantly. “I got myself a whole bucket of it. Anyway, as I was saying, they were all unconscious, so I snuck around a bit and tried to find something juicy on the big boss.”

“The big boss, huh…” Ozpin mused. The big boss was someone no one had ever seen before, and whose identity was a mystery; he ran the entire mercenary organization, but he had done it all in the shadows. From that alone, it could be said that he was a far more powerful individual than even Ozpin himself. “Well, you called me, so I assume you’ve found something interesting?”

“I’m still trying to break through your firewall,” Pat replied. “Gimme a minute.”

“You could just send it to my e-mail,” Ozpin suggested. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” Pat asked. “Okay, it’s done. Apparently this was what they did with the data from all those tests.”

“This is…” for once, Ozpin looked genuinely surprised. 

“Do with it what you will,” Pat said. “I’m getting back to my errand.”

Without waiting for a reply, he hung up. Ozpin did not move his hand, holding his Scroll by the side of his face silently. 

-

“Alright, is everyone here?” Sapphire asked, scanning the room. Team RWBY was seated on their beds, all members present, while Team JNPR sat on the floor, missing a certain blonde. “Where’s Arc?”

“I think he’s in the cafeteria,” Pyrrha replied. “He may have forgotten about the meeting. Sorry; I should have reminded him.”

“So there’re times you’re not sticking to him,” Sapphire muttered, causing Pyrrha to blush furiously. He fished out his Scroll, calling Jaune impatiently. “Hey Arc. If you’re not in Team RWBY’s room in five minutes I’ll do weird things to your girlfriend.”

“PYRRHA!” Jaune screamed, jumping through the window and diving into the room, using his shield to cover his landing. His eyes searched the room hastily, and with a panicked expression he pointed his sword at Sapphire. “W-what did you do to her?”

“Right, now that everyone’s here, let’s get started,” Sapphire announced, completely ignoring the blonde and the fact that he had managed to rush from the cafeteria to a room on the upper floor within seconds. He was supposed to be incompetent how? “I’ll explain the details of the plan this time.”

“Hold on,” Ren said. “Are you sure it’s safe? What if someone is listening in?”

“Don’t worry,” Sapphire said, pressing a button on Lifesaver’s side. A green light lit up slightly above it, flashing at slow, steady intervals. “All signals are now jammed. That aside, when did you start talking?”

“Ren’s just shy!” Nora said, hugging him like a giant plushie. Her right arm was in a cast, but she managed to make do with just the left. “What he just said is enough to last this entire semester!”

“Agreed,” Sapphire nodded, as Pyrrha finally managed to make Jaune sit down and sheathe his sword. “Okay, moving on. I’m sure you’ve all read the news lately, no?”

“Yes,” Everyone replied. The only exceptions were Ren (who nodded silently), Nora (who said ‘yep~’), Yang (who went ‘uh-huh!’) and Jaune, who shook his head.

“Arc…” Sapphire sighed heavily. “Just out of curiosity, other than comics and porno mags, is there anything you read at all?”

“He doesn’t read those dirty things,” Pyrrha denied. “I won’t let him.”

“Fair enough,” Sapphire conceded, pulling out a newspaper and tossing it to the natural blonde. “Read it.”

“Um…” Jaune did as he was told, skimming the itty-bitty words that only came with one big picture (not that he complained; it was a photo of Weiss). To his surprise, it was an article about how Weiss was going to take her sister to a private villa for recuperation, with her team as the only ones guarding her. “What’s this?”

“It’s what it looks like,” Sapphire replied. “Team RWBY will be taking a break from school, and we’ll be moving Winter to the Schnee villa around… here,” he pointed at the map on the wall. It was a location along a cliff, facing a large forest where it was not looking out to sea. “The five of us will be the only ones there, so there’ll be no extra security and whatnot. Any questions?”

“Only about fifty,” Jaune said. 

“Fine,” Sapphire heaved another exasperated sigh. “I’ll explain. We’re saying that the environment is good for her health, and we’re using only a team of four girls – her most trusted friends and comrades, so to speak – with no security for fear or enemy spies. The purpose is straightforward and simple: we’re insulting the White Fang.”

“What?” Jaune asked, clearly confused. Even Pyrrha looked a little puzzled.

“Why would you go so far to provoke them?” Pyrrha asked. “You know they’re dangerous, and you’re going to make Team RWBY the targets of their fury now? What’ll it accomplish?”

“The plan doesn’t stop there,” Sapphire replied. “But I’ll go into that later. I had Weiss emphasize that the attack on the Schnee Company would not be possible for the White Fang to pull off alone, which basically conveyed that we think they’re worthless on their own. Furthermore, the only people guarding her are a team of four Huntresses-in-training. That’s totally looking down on them. Do you think they’ll just sit back and let us say all this?

“The attack on the SDC was led by a Faunus called Adam Taurus,” Sapphire went on, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Blake as he said this. “His fearsome ability is topped only by his own pride, and a man like that held back without killing Winter. Someone must be pulling the strings, and with that taunt we’ll be making them come to us without relying on them. It decreases the amount of unknown elements we have to face.”

Blake nodded, albeit a little hesitantly. The others still looked unconvinced at his words, so the former mercenary took a deep breath and continued. 

“Their enemies, as we’ve proposed, are four girls,” he said. “To top it off, they’re Weiss Schnee’s most trusted friends. If they beat us without external intervention, it’ll not only prove their power, albeit a little, and it’ll also allow them to rub dirt all over the Schnee heiress’s pride. It’s a challenge and an opportunity they won’t pass up. It’s certainly a possibility that Taurus will be sadistic enough to kill all three of them slowly in front of Weiss before gutting her to stroke his own ego too.”

“That’s nice,” Weiss said sarcastically. “What does that do for us?”

“Basically, they’ll come to us,” Sapphire replied. “They won’t rely on this unknown third party, and they’ll definitely come without fail. For us, who lack information to do anything, it’s our best and possibly only way of striking back. The catch is that other than being able to one-up the Fang somewhat, as well as weakening them, we have no other actual merits.”

“So it’s personal,” Pyrrha summarized. “Not only that, but you’re risking your life and Weiss’s company’s name for this.”

“Yes, we are,” Ruby replied. The four members of Team JNPR turned to stare at the red-cloaked girl, and at her red and black eye patch. “Weiss was willing to do it, and we won’t let her go in alone. So even if we have to risk our lives, we’ll go. We’ll fight with her all the way.”

“No matter how many times I hear it, it’s as embarrassing as ever,” Sapphire muttered, smirking as he leaned against the wall. “Well, Weiss is willing to toss aside her pride for this little revenge hit, so we’ve got nothing to complain.”

“Wait a minute,” Jaune said suddenly. “You said four, right? What’re you going to do? And what’s with the eye patches?”

“Well, we did say we’re moving Winter there for recovery, no?” Sapphire asked. “But I’m not stupid enough to actually bring her there. The White Fang have something detects the Aura readings in the area, and to fool them we just need someone with low Aura to pass off as Winter, who’s on the verge of death.”

“You don’t mean-?” 

“Luckily, I’m skinny,” Sapphire shrugged. “And now for the eye patches… I’m actually keen on keeping you in the dark and making you suffer that way.”

“Hey!” Jaune protested. Ruby had to cover her mouth to hide her grin at that.

“But what about the actual forces?” Pyrrha asked. “You only have five people, and they’ll definitely send in far more than just that. What’re you going to do?”

“That’s why I chose this location,” Sapphire answered, rapping his knuckles on the map. “It’s on a cliff, so they can’t surround us. They won’t be stupid enough to send all their troops through the forest and risk traps and hidden reinforcements either, but since they can’t use the sea they’ll probably end up descending on the villa via helicarriers.

“There’re only so many helicarriers you can bring along without alerting the opponent,” Sapphire went on. “So we only have to fight those who come into the villa via the air. The ones in the forest will… let’s just say my former colleagues will mistake them for enemies and help us out.”

“What do you mean?” Yang asked apprehensively. “What did you do?”

“I have very… persuasive friends,” Sapphire said evasively. “Don’t worry; their combined strength should be more than enough to take on the White Fang; it’s not as if they’ll send every single soldier available in to combat just four girls anyway.”

“You’re bringing in external help?” Pyrrha asked. “After all you said and did to get them to not bring in theirs?”

“I never said this was playing fair,” Sapphire replied. “I hope you don’t misunderstand; this is payback for what they did. I’ve no intention of competing on equal ground. They struck first, and we’re not fighting for cheap pride, so we’ll be as dirty as we need to be. They hurt someone important, and you can bet your life that we’ll do whatever it takes to kick their ass.”

A momentary silence followed those words. No one really knew what to say, especially when Sapphire’s tone had become increasingly hostile with every word. 

“No matter how many times I hear it, it’s still as embarrassing as ever,” Blake jabbed. Sapphire looked at her, clearly thinking of a rebuttal, but was ultimately unable to think of one so he picked up Zwei and flung him at her instead.

“Anyway, JNPR,” he said triumphantly, turning to them as Blake screeched and jumped onto an upper bunk. “I need you guys to guard Winter in that time. Since her condition has stabilized, we’ve made arrangements for her to be temporarily moved to Beacon’s infirmary; if we have guards outside her ward when she’s supposedly at the villa, it’ll be suspicious after all. But that being said, we can’t just leave her vulnerable, so that’s why we’re doing this. Any questions, kids?”

“When are you moving her?” Nora asked, tilting her head. “Everyone’s gathered here, so who’s looking after her now?”

“We moved her yesterday,” Sapphire replied. Everyone other than Weiss looked surprised at that. “And a certain busty blonde is looking after her right now. No, the other one,” he added with a facepalm as all eyes turned to Yang. “That’s all from me. Can you do it?”

“It’s not a problem for us,” Jaune replied. “You can hardly expect us to back down after something like that. We’ll do it.”

“That’s right,” Pyrrha agreed, putting a hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder. “Don’t look down on Team JNPR, Sapphire.”

“You mean don’t look down on your husband,” Sapphire muttered. “Alright, dismissed! Blo- Xiao Long, I need to talk to you for a bit.”

Yang looked startled, but did not say anything in protest. This surprising lack of objection made Ruby all hyped up for some reason – a reaction backed up by the suggestive whistling from Nora. 

“Yang, I thought you already had Blake,” Ruby said.

“Well, you know…” Yang suddenly caught on to what her sister was implying. “Wait a minute; Ruby!”

But everyone had already fled from her impending fury.

-

“How’re you holding up?” Sapphire asked reluctantly.

“What on Remnant do you mean?” Yang asked, holding Zwei by the front legs and making him tap-dance across the carpet. 

“You seemed distracted,” Sapphire pointed out. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“Are you kidding?” Yang asked. “You’re asking my sister to risk her life, but you expect me to sit around?”

“I never said anything about leaving you behind,” Sapphire replied. “I’m asking if you’re up for this. If you’re going to be like this on the day itself, you’ll die, Xiao Long.”

“Y’know, everyone just calls me Yang,” Yang said. “So just call me Yang. Besides, it’s not as if I hate my surname, but when I get called that way, it just forcefully reminds me that Ruby and I are not… you know…”

“… Noted,” Sapphire conceded. “But you’re not getting out of answering my question.”

“Girls don’t like guys who’re this pushy, you know,” Yang complained, lifting Zwei and using his face to substitute for a puppy-dog eyed expression. When that failed, she gave in with a sigh. “Fine, fine… I’m alright. I really am; I’m a seasoned brawler, in case you didn’t know.

“Besides,” she said, standing up and turning to leave, but not before flashing him a wide, toothy grin. “I’m a big sis, y’know? Little siblings leave it to me and we’ll settle this with a Yang!”

With that, Yang left the room. Sapphire, now alone (with Zwei), sighed and pressed the button on Lifesaver, disabling the jamming. 

He was not a fan of butting into other people’s problems, but he was hardly enthusiastic about leaving her alone. He knew that she was lying, but her personality was a bad match with his; there was pretty much no way he could convince her or make her open up to him, at least not without a fight.

“It’s up to Blake, then…” he said heavily, possibly to Zwei. “The blonde’s going to get herself killed.”

A heavy silence descended, preceded by Zwei’s frightened whine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Er… too much OC stuff involved. Didn’t want that; it’s information overload… You can feel free to ignore the first part; I’ll remind you again when the time comes. Besides, it won’t really come into play much in this arc.
> 
> Sorry I’m not good with puns; Yang’s art is too sophisticated for the likes of moi…


	8. A Friendly Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two pairs of people sit down and have a nice, friendly conversation.

“Would you care to join me?”

Sapphire Fall was not one to have luck with women. As such, he was not one to believe that a random pretty woman would just come and invite him to lunch. Now that the impossible had actually happened, he was not sure how to react. 

“Let’s see…” he said thoughtfully. “Either you think I’m stupid beyond cure, or you’re underestimating me too much. Pick one.”

“What on Remnant do you mean?” the student asked with a good natured smile. 

She was, if anything, beautiful. She was probably about Sapphire’s age, but the vibe she gave off was far more mature than just that. Everything about her, from her long, silky black hair to her radiant amber eyes, seemed somehow reassuring despite the clear danger she presented. 

“I merely saw you at the concert,” Cinder said, playing the role of a normal female student perfectly. “I figured that as new students, we should get along; we’re both strangers to this place, after all. We could help each other out.”

“I guess so,” Sapphire replied. She clearly had no intention of letting up, so he might as well play along. “Shall we be on our way?”

-

“Yang Xiao Long! Stop right there!”

“I refuse!” Yang shouted back, running away from her partner. 

“Ruby!” Blake snarled towards her leader. “Cut her off!”

“B-but-” Ruby stuttered, before she remembered just how ‘persuasive’ Blake could get. There was also the time she made fun of Blake’s scream. “Roger that!”

“Ruby you trai-” Yang began, but her sister already had her arms around her waist, tackling her to the ground and holding her in place. “You would betray me, my sister?!”

“Now…” Blake panted, glaring at the blonde. “Are you going to… listen to me?”

“I don’t wanna be a scratchpost!” Yang struggled, but Ruby was surprisingly strong. She was about to say something else, but the murderous aura from Blake was no joke. “O-okay, I’ll listen! K-keep that weapon! Keep that weapon!”

“What’re you talking about, Yang?” Blake asked, swinging Gambol Shroud around with a cheery smile on her face. “I won’t do anything to you. Let’s go somewhere more private, okay?”

Ruby had never heard Yang gulp in fear like that ever since Goodwitch punished her for damaging school property. That being said, after looking at Blake’s expression, she could not blame her. At all.

-

“Now then, have we calmed down a little?” Blake asked, dropping Yang on her bed. There had been the lingering scent of a woman just outside their door, but she would worry about that later. 

“I’ve always been calm, Blakey,” Yang said, twirling a lock of hair with her finger. “Anyone would run if you threaten to use them as a scratching post.”

“Yang…” Blake sighed. Ever since she had revealed her Faunus nature, Yang’s cat-related jokes had increased in frequency. It did not bother her that much, but right now it made her want to cut Yang’s hair. “We need to talk.”

“You sound like a mom,” Yang complained, pouting. “A mom that loooves to nag.”

“What’s on your mind, Yang?” Blake asked calmly. Before Yang could reply, she held up a hand to avoid hearing another lousy bluff; Yang was a terrible liar, and it may or may not have something to do with the fact that she was Ruby’s sister. “Don’t lie to me, Yang. You’re clearly in a bad mood, and I want to know why.”

“What makes you say that?” Yang raised an eyebrow. 

“For crying out loud, Yang,” Blake replied impatiently. “You’ve sent two students to the infirmary in the past few sparring classes, and even when you don’t hurt them you fight like you’re venting your frustration on them. What’s going on?”

“I-I just forgot to hold back,” Yang lied badly. Blake would have rolled her eyes, if not for her patience wearing thin. “Seriously, why must you and Sapphire insist that I’m on my per-”

“Yang,” Blake cut across the fibbing blonde sharply. “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me anything, but don’t lie to me. We’re partners; you can trust me, okay?”

“It’s not that I don’t…” Yang said guiltily, sounding like Ruby when she got caught with her hand in a cookie jar. “Alright, I’ll tell you. Don’t tell Ruby, okay?”

“Oh please,” Blake scoffed. “You know I’m better than that.”

“I guess so,” Yang agreed, her mood lightening up a little. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, the blonde brawler continued. “You know how we’re going with that impossible plan of Sapphire’s?”

“Yes,” Blake replied. “I agree it’s reckless, but it’s not something we can’t handle. I’m sure Sapphire has plenty of safety measures in place as well. Ruby trusts him too, doesn’t she?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust him,” Yang said hastily. “It’s just… I don’t want Ruby to be hurt, and every time I think about it I just get the feeling she’ll get herself hurt somehow. But you know that she won’t just back down and stay behind even if we tried tying her to the bed.”

_If she’s family, don’t ever leave her side!_

Sapphire’s words, louder and far more painful to hear than before, rang in her ears. She had seen, all too clearly, the pain carved into those eyes back then. It was so deep that it hurt just to look at them, and she sometimes wondered if she would make that expression if Ruby ever got hurt.

“True,” Blake said thoughtfully, oblivious to the unspoken worries that swarmed Yang’s mind. “We’ve seen what she could do if she really wanted to escape… But Ruby’s a competent fighter; wouldn’t it be fine to let her fight? You can’t protect her forever, so let her experience some danger now, when we’re all here to save her when the going gets rough.”

“I wanted to, you know,” Yang said, more to herself than to Blake. “I wanted to protect her forever, so I trained myself to be strong enough to beat anyone. And now, when I’m selfishly chasing after adventure, she’s striving to become a hero, probably because of my influence.

“When I heard she got moved up two years, I was really glad,” Yang went on. “Even if it was going to be difficult for her, at least I was there. I could protect her through her time at Beacon. Now we’re making enemies of Roman Torchwick and the White Fang… it’s out of my hands, Blake.”

“Well, isn’t that just right for you?” Blake said. Yang turned to her quickly, staring at the Faunus who merely shrugged. “You said it yourself: you just sought adventure, right? Now it’s found you, so you can have your fill. You should be jumping for joy.”

Yang kept silent. Blake walked over and sat down right next to her, looking at her straight in the eyes.

“You never looked for cheap thrills,” Blake said firmly. “I know you’re not like that. You looked for stronger enemies to strengthen yourself, so that you could protect Ruby, didn’t you? But you know that’s not going to solve anything. If you want Ruby to remain herself, believing what she believes, and still survive in this world, you have to let her flap her own wings. You should know that better than I do, Yang.”

Yang said nothing, choosing instead to stare back at Blake. She had thought about all those things as well, but stubbornly believed that another method existed. Now that her own partner was telling her this, did she have no choice but to accept it?

“I guess so,” she said at last. “Just this once, I’ll let her have free rein.”

“She’ll manage,” Blake offered. “She’s the fearless leader of Team RWBY, after all.”

“You know, if you weren’t taken by Sun, I’d totally hit on you,” Yang said with a serious expression. “Aw, heck; I’m gonna steal you away from him anyway.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Blake challeneged. After Sapphire tricking him a few days back, Sun had been extremely protective of his girlfriend. She had little doubt that even Yang would have a hard time dealing with him now. 

“Hey, you’re a kitty cat who uses bird analogies,” Yang pointed out. “I think anything’s possible at this point.”

“Yang…” Blake groaned, massaging her temples. Yang chuckled.

“Thanks, kitty cat,” the blonde said, managing a genuine, wide grin.

-

Sapphire lifted the mug to his lips, tilting it but keeping his lips tightly clamped. As he set it back down, he made sure to let out a breath of air to suggest that he had taken a sip.

“So, to what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked. “Or whatever the phrase is.”

“You’re as amusing as the rumors say you are,” Cinder giggled. As they were – wearing uniforms and having lunch in the cafeteria – no one paid them any attention beyond a passing glance.

“Thanks for that,” Sapphire replied. He had Daybreak, Duskfall and Lifesaver on standby, ready to be activated at a moment’s notice. However, he was starting to think that this woman was really just here to talk; she had chosen such a crowded place to hold their conversation after all. “And what else are these… ‘rumors’ saying about me?”

“That you’re strong,” Cinder answered lightly. “You’re good at judging your opponent’s strengths, and you’re not overconfident, but you’re also very careless. Oh, and…”

Sapphire opened his mouth to reply, but stopped dead in his tracks. His entire body was bound in place by an invisible force, as though the very air itself was trying to crush him. All he could do right now was sit there, unable to move a single muscle.

“You’re an open book,” she finished, smiling at the look of shock on Sapphire’s face.

“Dust…” Sapphire cursed under his breath. He had even experienced her skillful manipulation of Dust in their previous battle. How had he not managed to see this coming?

“Your Aura is weak,” Cinder stated, using her free hand to gesture towards the other, with its fingers on Sapphire’s sleeve. “Wearing special Dust-infused clothing is just going to backfire if you can’t control it.”

“Interesting,” Sapphire muttered, forcing out a fearless smirk. If she wanted to, this unknown woman could kill him in an instant, with the special uniform he had requested from Ozpin for protection. “Alright, you got my attention. What do you want?”

“Well, you’ve put me in quite a spot,” Cinder said, smiling confidently. It was a small gesture, but it radiated with unyielding spirit, striking a stark contrast with her words. “You took out one of my men, and now you’ve provoked the White Fang so much that they’re not even willing to listen to what I have to say. Did you think that there’d be no consequences?”

“Sorry, but I’m not the kind to plan ahead,” Sapphire replied. “And for that matter, Mercury picked a fight with me.”

“That piqued my interest,” Cinder said. “You’re skilled enough to defeat Mercury in combat. That’s impressive talent.”

“What can I say?” Sapphire asked. “I just gave him a good kick to the balls. Works on any man.”

“Tell me, why do you fight?” Cinder fired back. Her real goal lay elsewhere, but it was also true that this boy interested her somewhat. Why that was, even she did not know. “Are you fighting to protect this pathetic world and its outrageous rules?”

“No, I despise it,” Sapphire answered seriously. “I hate this world, and I couldn’t care less if it went to hell. What’re you trying to get at?”

Cinder smiled lasciviously, leaning in towards Sapphire, who just sat that unable to move or defend himself. As long as Cinder’s fingers touched his uniform, he was powerless to resist. 

Her expression was one of overflowing confidence and triumph, but Sapphire was sure he had seen disgust in those eyes – a fleeting sense of disgust aimed at him, fueled by an anger that was cleverly hidden.

“If that’s how you feel,” she whispered into his ear. “How about joining me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, kinda beating a dead horse with Yang here. Don’t worry, that’ll stop this chapter! Gonna be moving into the fighting in about 2 or so chapters, after this setting up is done.
> 
> And yes, the first face-to-face meeting between Cinder and Sapphire. Took them 36 chapters to even talk. Sheesh.


	9. Similarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where there was no room for doubt, they were similar in a lot of ways.

“Join… you?” Sapphire asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m already eating lunch with you, aren’t I-kuh…”

He winced painfully, clenching his fists as Cinder widened her playful smile. 

“I’m sorry, did that hurt?” she asked pleasantly. “Dust can be pretty painful even via fabric, can’t it?”

“Oh, was that what it was?” Sapphire asked, trying to keep his smirk. “I thought it was a bug bite. Say, while we’re at it, how about we continue conversing in the form of questions for the next hour or so?”

“That could be fun,” Cinder replied, considering what he said. “Alas, we don’t have the time. So how about you answer my question?”

“Of course I refuse, dumbass,” Sapphire snapped. “Who on Remnant would be stupid enough to join a bunch of unknown assholes just like that?”

“Well, maybe having your life threatened can be an incentive,” Cinder offered, tapping the sleeve of his uniform for emphasis. “Besides, you ought to know by now that we have enough significance to influence even the White Fang. Do you really need convincing on our power?”

“Then let me ask you the same question you asked me,” Sapphire said. “What’re you fighting for? You hate the world, good for you, but what’re you trying to achieve?”

Cinder considered him for a moment. This was probably a ploy to buy some time, but even if someone he knew came along, they would not be able to help him; she had Emerald standing guard outside for that very purpose. She told herself that she had nothing to lose in replying, but Cinder understood that there was something else behind her answer. Something unknown that made her want to reply.

“Do you know what it feels like to lose someone you love?” she asked. “Do you know what it feels like to see everyone else take for granted what you can never have, to witness them laugh and enjoy life while they rob you of everything?”

Sapphire raised an eyebrow. He felt like saying smugly that he did understand how that felt, and that he knew far better than she thought he did. However, with the unfortunate circumstance of his life being in danger, he held his tongue.

“I’m going to take it all away,” Cinder declared. “That’s all. Simple and straightforward, isn’t it?”

“In short, you just don’t want to explain everything to a guy who may not join you,” Sapphire summarized. “Understood. Y’know, I was worried at first, but it seems you’re simpler than I initially thought you were.”

“Oh?” Cinder asked. “Would you care to enlighten me on what you mean by that?”

“I thought a third party that dangerous was going to be difficult,” Sapphire replied. “But if your motivation and goals are as you say they are, you’re not mysterious or anything anymore – you’re just a childish brat. I don’t even have to lie and pretend to join you; simple-minded morons like you won’t pose a threat no matter how much power you have.”

“Pretty big words, for someone whose life is in my hands,” Cinder mocked. The uniform on Sapphire tightened, sticking to his body tightly and constricting him even further.

“I can’t get violent here, but that applies for you too,” Sapphire said calmly, even though his face gave away the pain she was causing. It hurt like crazy, but he did not care. “How’re you going to get away with killing me in front of so many people?

“You’re far too simple,” he went on, ignoring the force exerted on his entire being. “You’re jealous of everyone else, so you’re venting that frustration on the rest of the world. You don’t want to blame yourself, so you’re blaming others instead. Aren’t you just sore over the fact that you’re so pathetic you couldn’t protect the ones you loved?”

He knew that he of all people had no right to say that; he had bared his own fangs against the world for a similar reason as well. It was stupid and selfish, not to mention childish to boot. He resented the world, he hated everyone else, and above all he despised himself, so he fought. 

He fought endlessly to rid that weakness, to perhaps hurt this wretched world a little. In the end, he, too, was the same as this woman – he was just sore over his own worthlessness.

So why was he telling her off? Why was he not able to take her side? She was making the same mistake that he had, so why was he not helping her either? Why was it that the only thing he felt from her words were-

 _Why am I feeling glad?_ He wondered.

“Hah,” Sapphire winced, as the uniformed tightened further. If this kept up, his Semblance was going to kick in, making his eyes turn red against his will. “Trying to cover it up with a display of power? Just so you know, not everyone’s chicken enough to give in to you just because you can show off a little.”

“You can really run your mouth, can’t you?” Cinder mused, her voice filled with a barely suppressed rage. “But you seem to be misreading the situation here; you’re completely at my mercy, you know.”

Smiling, she rested her free hand’s palm against Sapphire’s cheek. Sapphire, still unable to move, let her continue with whatever she had in mind.

“You’re not to tell anyone about this conversation, okay?” she asked.

Sapphire wanted to burst out laughing and call out how utterly ridiculous that was, but could not. Instead, all that filled his thoughts was how he had to agree. And how her words were absolute.

_Don’t think. Obey._

“Of course,” he replied easily, as though it was common sense. It was only natural, so why did she even have to ask?

“There’s a good boy,” Cinder said, chuckling as she stood up. “That’s all I have to say today, so I’ll take my leave here. I’ll decide again what to do after this battle, so good luck. Oh, and keep this in mind…

“Don’t ever use that name in front of me again,” she warned, her eyes brimming with genuine rage this time. “And don’t you dare insult him any further.”

Before Sapphire could process that last sentence, he had already lost consciousness.

-

“He’s waking up.”

“Quickly; stab him.”

Reacting on instinct to that last comment, Sapphire leapt out of bed. The moment he did so, a wave of giddiness assaulted him, causing him to lose balance and crash miserably to the floor.

“Now’s your… chance, Weiss…”

“Miss Schnee, kindly refrain from talking so much when you’re injured.”

Getting up shakily, Sapphire finally managed to grasp the fact that he was in the infirmary. The bed had been a very familiar one, and the scenery outside the window had not changed. It was all serene as usual, save for the fierce blonde glaring daggers at him. From a bed next to his was a rather amused Winter, with her sister seated right beside her as they looked at him like he was a unique animal. Winter looked fragile and sickly as heck, but she had a very amused and infuriating smirk on her face.

“Well, Mister Fall,” Goodwitch said in a very authoritative manner. “Would you care to explain why you were all bruised and bleeding in the cafeteria?”

“Er… What?” Sapphire answered like the intelligent man that he was. 

“You were found collapsed in the cafeteria,” Goodwitch explained impatiently. “Your entire body was bruised pretty badly and there were small cuts here and there as well. Do kindly enlighten me on the circumstances that led to such an event.”

“Er… I hurt myself while working out,” Sapphire said. “It’s a guy thing.”

Winter’s smirk grew wider. For a critically wounded person who was supposed to be resting, she had a lot of energy. Then again, she did have a rather bad history with Sapphire, so a little sadism towards his current predicament was probably justified.

“Really,” Goodwitch said flatly. “Very well. Let us hear you out in full detail in front of the headmaster later. I’m sure you won’t refuse.”

“Er… I refuse,” Sapphire said flatly, diving out the window before Goodwitch could say anything else. “Adios, suckers!”

-

“Is something on your mind, Emerald?” Cinder asked pleasantly. The girl in question stopped whatever it was that she was doing and just stood there. “Are you by any chance upset over how I handled the conversation?”

“I’m just… worried,” Emerald confessed. “You- we were supposed to bring him to our side, by force if necessary. I don’t think it was… wise… to just let him do what he wants.”

“So you think I’m not wise enough,” Cinder mused. “It’s okay, Emerald; it was a bad move and I know it as well. I won’t try to cover it up. It’s just that after speaking with him, I decided that we don’t need him anymore; I have another role for him now.”

“What’s that?” Emerald asked.

“He’s challenging Adam Taurus of all people,” Cinder reminded her gleefully. “I’m very keen to let him realize just how powerless he is right before he dies.”

His words – his ignorant, infuriating comments – returned to mock her. He knew nothing about loss, but he had made a fool of hers. He thought Sapphire’s death was trivial, and to mock him even further he dared to use his name. Regardless of the threat he possessed, regardless of the value he had, Cinder would rather see this insolent fool suffer. 

“Such a shame,” she thought aloud. “I won’t get to see the despair on his face just before Adam tears it apart.”

-

“Oww…”

For all his supposed bravado, Sapphire Fall fell spectacularly and head-first into the bushes on the ground floor. He had managed to avoid breaking his neck, but as a result his body felt like it was on fire.

Swearing excessively under his breath, the former mercenary staggered in the direction of the dorm, making sure to pick the longest, most deserted route he could find. While complaining in his head about how he had to deal with this now that his arm was finally healed, Sapphire overheard a familiar voice.

“I still can’t be at ease.”

It was Sun’s voice, and judging from his tone and words, his conversation partner was Blake. If it was not, then a video camera and a funeral were in order. And probably a plan to break a certain Faunus out of prison after that too.

“I’ll be fine, Wukong,” Blake replied. Sapphire sighed; there was no scandal to be had here. Such a shame. “Besides, if Sapphire’s right, Adam will be there. I have to go.”

“Who… is he?” Sun asked. Even Sapphire could tell that he was worried if Adam was Blake’s ex; the monkey-boy had no idea what it meant to be subtle.

 _Well, he exposes his chest everywhere he goes,_ Sapphire reasoned in his head. _Wait, why do they have to be so secretive?_

He understood that it was something regular students should not know about, but Team RWBY’s room was a far safer option than here. As a matter of fact, Sapphire was already eavesdropping while passing by. 

Then he remembered. Ruby had told him before that Weiss was not particularly supportive of the White Fang, and that it took her a day to get over the fact that Blake was a Faunus (although it was mostly because they had to track Blake down after she ran away). While the heiress was on good terms with Blake, she still could not rid herself of that hostility towards the White Fang. Needless to say, that dislike did not get any better after the attack on the SDC and the attempt on Winter’s life.

However, precisely because she was on good terms with Blake, Weiss kept her comments to herself whenever it concerned the White Fang. Sapphire could certainly see why; those ‘comments’ were less than friendly, and the adjectives she chose to use were anything but fitting for a prim and proper girl to say (which probably came from overhearing Sapphire’s own rants). That being said, Blake had often chosen to keep her distance from Weiss to ‘let her express her feelings openly without bottling it up for a change’. That probably applied now, too.

“I-I mean, who is he to you?” Sun corrected hastily, dragging Sapphire back to Remnant, and to the very important job of eavesdropping on a lovers’ spat.

“He was my mentor,” Blake replied. “That’s all.”

“Is he… dangerous?” Sun asked hesitantly. He had already asked Sapphire this, but the latter had not given him an answer. The (possibly murderous) look in his eyes might have given Sun some weird ideas to worry about as well. Just maybe. 

“Do you find Sapphire dangerous?” Blake asked instead of replying. 

“Yes,” Sun replied without hesitation. “He’s seen and caused the deaths of people – just for some money, no less – so I can’t honestly say he’s a safe guy to be around. Why do you ask?”

Sapphire could not help but smile at that. Sun had always been the honest type, and he was thankful for that; Sapphire had no intention of ignoring his past, and he was glad that there were those who understood the significance of those sins. Just as he was feeling glad over her boyfriend’s words, Blake’s answer made his blood run cold:

“Because the two of them are the same.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little bit of trivia: Sapphire’s various similarities with the characters are because I wanted to tell the story through his eyes and expand the canon characters through him (kinda like how a viewer would make their own interpretations while watching, if you will). Interestingly enough, some of these similarities were discovered as I wrote this story and weren’t planned since the very beginning. 
> 
> And yes, his similarity with Adam is one of them. :)


	10. Rebels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They may have been enemies, and they may have always stood on opposing sides. But ultimately, they were both rebels who just did not like how the world worked.

“How unlike you to call me out like this.”

Looking out the window, Ironwood commented with vague interest. Not much was written on his stern face, but that was the norm for him.

“Did something happen?” he asked, correctly interpreting Ozpin’s silence.

“I happened to come across some rather curious information,” Ozpin replied. “It’s related to Cloudburst.”

“That mercenary with a rare Semblance?” Ironwood asked. He had no idea what his name was, but he knew the child soldier whom Ozpin had invited to Beacon by his call sign. As such, they only ever referred to Sapphire as ‘Cloudburst’ when conversing with each other. “What about him?”

“It appears that he’s still useful to his organization even now,” Ozpin said, pushing a thin stack of papers forward on his desk. “Take a look at this.”

“They’re just a bunch of mercenaries,” Ironwood said dismissively, walking to the desk and picking up the papers. “No matter who’s pulling the strings, the likes of-”

“Looks like you understand,” Ozpin said gravely, crossing his fingers and leaning forward. Ironwood, who had just gone silent, stayed speechless as he continued to stare at the papers in his hand. “They’re attempting to give other mercenaries his Semblance. Who knows what will happen if they- James?”

“Ah, y-yes,” Ironwood stammered. “Pardon me; I was just wondering how something like this was possible. I can understand getting samples of his blood, saliva and all that for research, but to think that they ran actual human tests…”

He trailed off, but Ozpin knew. Not only had the tests been carried out, they had all ended in failure following the deaths of the test subjects. Worst of all, the tests were still being carried out despite the hundred percent fatality rate.

“I was worried that his family members would be dragged in, so I did some research,” Ozpin went on. “I was unable to find anything about his parents, but I’ve discovered that his sister might be alive.”

“His sister?” Ironwood asked. “How did you pull that off?”

“No girl with the same surname as his was reported in the list of survivors,” Ozpin replied. “However, the organization managed to retrieve the samples from all the corpses they found on site, and they found out that none of them were related to Cloudburst in any way.”

“So either she died without leaving any remains, or she managed to escape,” Ironwood hypothesized. Then, as though he had just suddenly realized something extremely important, he slammed a palm on the table. “Wait; this sister of his – are they related by blood?”

“Yes, they would be,” Ozpin answered calmly. “What’s wrong?”

“Then if they find her,” Ironwood said agitatedly. “If they find out they’re related by blood, wouldn’t it be possible for them to want her as a subject?”

“Yes, that’s certainly a possibility,” Ozpin agreed. “That’s why we must find her before they do.”

“Agreed,” Ironwood nodded. 

“Can we expect your assistance in this matter?” Ozpin asked.

“You have my support,” Ironwood replied. “But I hope you’re not intending to keep her at Beacon if we do find her.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Ozpin asked nonchalantly.

“Are you serious?” Ironwood asked. “These children of yours can’t fend off real mercenaries, Ozpin. I’m placing her under military protection. It’s the only way.”

“I understand,” Ozpin sighed. There was no point arguing about it now, especially considering Ironwood’s stubborn nature. “We’ll discuss this again when it does happen.”

“Fine,” Ironwood relented. “And what of Cloudburst? Does he know about this?”

“No,” Ozpin replied after a long, thoughtful pause. “I’m keeping him in the dark for now.”

“And why is that?” Ironwood asked, his interest in the matter fading slowly.

“I don’t have any proof to support it,” Ozpin sighed, knowing full well that it was unlike him to be unsure of something. “But if she _is_ alive, the possibility of her taking the same path as Cloudburst isn’t zero.”

“Is that why you brought him here?” Ironwood asked, raising an eyebrow as he caught on to the implications. “Because you thought she was involved in this somehow?”

Ozpin did not reply.

“Another one of your ‘hunches’?” Ironwood asked, heaving another exasperated sigh. “What will you do if you’re right?”

Ozpin leaned back on his chair and turned to look out the window. Moments passed in silence, and when he finally spoke up, his tone had changed considerably.

“Then bringing him here might have been the biggest mistake of my life.”

-

“The… same?”

Blake did not say anything in response to Sun’s question, so Sapphire assumed that she nodded. Sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, he continued to eavesdrop on the topic that, for some reason, became related to him.

“What do you mean?” Sun asked. “Sapphire’s… you know, and Adam’s-” 

“I know,” Blake cut across him. “They’re different now, but before they ended up this way, they were very similar.

“Adam experienced what most Faunus did,” she began. “Being ostracized, bullied, treated like some… _thing_. Not only that, he went through far worse, and it changed him. I can’t tell you what happened to him, but ever since then, he lost hope in humans; to him, humans were the monsters – far more vile and repulsive than Grimm.”

“Wuss,” Sapphire muttered under his breath. Even though he had once thought of the entire world in the exact same way before, he could help but want to deny it since it was Adam.

“He lived his life fighting after that,” Blake went on. “His life was filled with nothing but hate, anger and fear, and it drove him to fight endlessly without care about anything else; to him, the whole world was his enemy. From what I know of Sapphire, he was the same way.”

The feeling of being betrayed by the world. Sapphire had never been proud of knowing it, but he had always believed conceitedly that he was the only one who did know. Now that it came to light that Adam shared a similar experience, he felt, for some strange reason, happy.

“Adam’s experienced the same pain as Sapphire, if not more,” Blake said. “If you think Sapphire’s dangerous, then Adam would probably be even more so. No, he’s undoubtedly many more times so.”

“Wait a minute,” Sun spoke up. “If they shared the same experiences, how are they this different now? Sapphire became a mercenary – he had to kill his own emotions too – and Adam became a part of the White Fang, which despite their methods sought to achieve a better life for Faunus. It doesn’t add up.”

“That’s probably because Adam has what Sapphire doesn’t,” Blake replied. “Adam managed to find the White Fang, and by extension managed to find other Faunus who suffered because of how they were born. He managed to find people who understood his suffering, who went through what he did, so he fought to protect every single one of them with his own life. Sapphire probably didn’t find that, so he…”

She trailed off, but Sapphire understood. Taurus had managed to find companions, or at least people he had to protect. Sapphire, on the other hand, had been alone all this time. He had no one to talk to, and no one who could understand his pain. Even when he thought he might have made some comrades, they were mercilessly cut down by Taurus.

Adam Taurus had a reason to fight, but he did not. Even though they shared a similar hate for the world, Adam now had a reason to live. Beyond feeling jealous, Sapphire felt abandoned.

Just when he thought that he had found someone who could understand him – a person he had believed to be his worst enemy, but still – that person had found his own place of belonging. That person had everything he wanted, and he still proceeded to take away what little he had managed to achieve.

“I can’t let the two of them fight,” Blake said. “I don’t know what will happen then; even if Sapphire doesn’t know this, he still hates Adam enough to really kill him. Adam won’t hesitate to take a life either, so in the worst case scenario both of them will die. I can’t let that happen, so I have to go, Wukong.”

Both of them were killers forged by the harshness of reality. Having taken separate paths, they could only put their lives on the line upon confrontation. Now that Sapphire knew a little more of the man he had to confront, he could feel his anger rising.

He lived through similar experiences. He shared his hatred of the world. He battled against the wretched reality as well. But in the end, he found people to protect. He found a place where he belonged. He found people who could understand him. Not only did he leave Sapphire to suffer alone, he took away the lives of countless comrades. 

Why him? Why did everything have to be given to him? Why was he the one who received so much, but was still allowed to take from others? Why did Sapphire have to lose everything, keep losing, and still be alone after it all?

_Take it all away._

Sapphire seemed to understand a little of what that woman said. The feeling of knowing that someone else has what you could never have, especially now that he knew said person could have been someone to share his burden, was terrible. There was no way he could forgive him. There was no way he could overlook his existence.

_Just like he did to you, rob him of everything._

He clenched his fists. There was no reason to hold back, and no reason to go easy. It was about time Taurus knew what it felt like to lose everything, and not gain anything in return. Taurus’s strength came from the desperation of not wanting to lose everything he attained, be it the people or the place he had found. If he could defeat him, Sapphire could deny Taurus’s experiences. He could reject everything that Taurus was, but whether it was out of jealousy or pure hate he did not know.

Taurus had robbed him of his friends, and was even now still claiming Sapphire’s life. Killing him would hardly be compensation, but it would have to do. 

“I’ll take back what you stole, Taurus,” he swore, his scarlet irises blazing with rage.

-

“Hey, Fall!” 

Neptune paused to catch his breath, and Sapphire waited him out, giving him a bland expression without saying a word.

“Is it true that you’re going to take on the White Fang?” he asked, panting heavily.

“Keep it down,” Sapphire said flatly. “It’s already dangerous enough that you know about it.”

“I don’t care,” Neptune replied, grabbing a fistful of Sapphire’s shirt and pulling him closer. “You better not let anything happen to Weiss. If anything happens to her, I’ll-”

“I don’t have time for this,” Sapphire deadpanned, shoving Neptune’s hand away roughly. “If you don’t have confidence in her abilities, then don’t blame me for her involvement; blame yourself for being unable to stop her in the first place.”

Turning around and walking away, he added another comment – this time filled with much more venom than before:

“If you’re going to indulge in such pointless emotional commitment, at least be prepared to lose her. That way you might just save your own life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick question: did you spot the reference to the ‘From Shadows’ song?
> 
> This chapter was kinda short, sorry about that. Next chapter will have a scene requested by a reader, so look forward to that! That being said, though, I’ll be going overseas soon so updates won’t come for a week or so. Thank you for understanding.
> 
> Till next time, fellas!


	11. Lost Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are many things one loses when growing up. To him, her warmth was one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to chapter 10! This one was a request for another fanfic, 'Bedtime Cuddles' (don't laugh at the title!), but since Sapphire's an OC so I added it here instead.
> 
> For those who perhaps hoped for something similar, here you go :D
> 
> This actually affects the main story, and I wanted this to be a stand-alone scene, so here it is as a proper chapter (albeit a little short):

The night was silent, and the air was still. For once, there was no barking Zwei, no rambunctious girls making a fuss or starting a pillow fight, no cat Faunus screaming because no dog was flung at her, and no terrible singing from a certain natural blonde. It was a quiet, peaceful night.

That is, it would have been, if not for the gasps of a certain boy.

Wiping the perspiration off his face, Sapphire bit back the swear words he almost let slip. He leaned against the wall as he tried to catch his breath, making sure to lower his volume; Blake had proven time and again that she was light enough of a sleeper to catch him if he woke up in the middle of the night. If she heard him swore, a long-winded lecture would follow suit too, and he was certainly not in the mood for one now.

It took him a few more minutes, but the former mercenary finally managed to calm himself down. Just as he was contemplating if he should even bother going back to sleep, a solid object made contact with the back of his head. It felt like a regular pistol, but something was off.

"Don't move," a rough voice whispered.

Sapphire sighed. He had experienced this far too many times back when he was a mercenary, courtesy of Luke.

"Can I help you, blondie?" he asked, tactful enough to whisper.

"I thought I told you-" the object against the back of his head was pushed a little further for emphasis. "-to call me 'Yang'."

"Didn't your mom teach you not to point the back of staplers at someone?" Sapphire asked.

"She might have," Yang replied nonchalantly, removing the stapler and sitting down behind him. "But she left when I was Yang – I mean, when I was young – so I might have forgotten."

An awkward silence followed, partly because of the terrible pun, and Sapphire finally broke it after a few agonizing minutes.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"What're you getting all mopey for? I thought you were a more carefree sorta guy," Yang commented, giving him a light thump on the back. Even though it barely produced any sound, it made Sapphire hiss upon contact. "Oh, sorry. Did that hurt?"

"Oh, no, it felt so light I- son of a fu-" Sapphire was cut off in the middle of his dismissive remark by Yang who had jabbed him in the side with a finger, and cut off again in the middle of his swearing by the same culprit.

"Shh," Yang hissed, removing her hand from his lips as she put a finger over her own. "You'll wake them up."

"I don't want to hear that from you," Sapphire snapped. "What on Remnant do you want, anyway?"

"Blake wanted me to talk to you," Yang replied. "But before that, did you have another nightmare?"

"Ye- wait, what'd you mean 'another'?" Sapphire asked.

"I'm very sensitive to noises like that," Yang answered, the cheeriness in her voice dropping a few degrees. "Ruby used to have 'em too, and if I didn't catch her in the act she'd never fess up – even though she's a terrible liar – so every time she jolts awake from a nightmare I tend to wake up too. Eventually it became something of a reflex, so I reacted to your abrupt movements as well.

"At first I thought lil' Rubes was getting them again," she said. Sapphire did not have to look at her face to know that she was smirking. "But it turned out to be lil' Saph instead."

"For the record, I'm older than you," Sapphire retorted. Then, understanding that it would not get him anywhere with this woman, he answered reluctantly. "Yeah, I had another nightmare. It happens. Now get back to the topic at hand."

"What was it about?" Yang asked, her tone suddenly gentle.

Sapphire kept silent, considering her for a moment.

"You don't have to if you-" Yang began.

"I dreamt of my parents being slaughtered by a bunch of hired guns," Sapphire sighed. "They left when I was young to who knows where, and ever since then I kept dreaming of them dying in many different ways. I don't know what really happened to them, but I doubt they're still alive now."

"Don't give up," Yang said. "I've been looking for my mom for years, and Ruby's not any better off when it comes to being in the presence of her mother. But you don't see us wallowing in despair, do you?"

"Enough about that," Sapphire sighed again, putting a hand to his forehead. "What did Bella- what did Blake ask you to talk to me about?"

"She said it's something to do with what she said to Sun about her former mentor," Yang replied.

Sapphire clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Why you?" he asked. "She could've just talked to me herself."

"Because I'm the big sis," Yang joked. "Now spill it, lil' Sap."

"What's there to say?" Sapphire asked. "I'm going to kill Taurus. That's all there is to it."

"So you want to go back?"

Sapphire jumped a little at the sudden change in atmosphere. Her tone was even, maybe even gentle, but the words still struck a chord in his chest.

"You want to go back to being a simple killer?" Yang asked. "After coming this far, you want to throw it all away?"

"I have nothing to lose, so there's nothing to throw away," Sapphire replied. "Besides, his existence simply denies everything my life has been up till now. I have to kill him or my life has no meaning."

"Why is that?" Yang asked. She sounded more agitated now, but Sapphire paid her no heed.

"Because he has found people to protect," Sapphire replied. "The fact that he's able to do that and I could not is enough of a reason."

"But don't you have that too?" Yang asked. "People to protect, I mean. There's me, Blakey, Ruby, Weissy, vomit boy, Reny, Pyrrh- wait, her name doesn't work well with a 'y', nor does Nora's…"

"What're you talking about?" Sapphire snapped. "You're all just a bunch of kids. I'm not-"

"Says the guy who's more emotionally unstable than the rest of us," Yang cut across him. "If you don't feel anything, then why go through with this plan just to get back at them? You said it yourself, remember, that they hurt a friend of yours and you were going to pay them back. Also, if you don't have people to fight for, why did you fight with Team JNPR to save Weiss?"

Sapphire kept silent. He said nothing, but he could not hide his emotions either; his glaring red eyes were giving away how laughably little self-control he had right now.

"I'd say he doesn't have anything you don't," Yang said. "Except maybe for his animal parts. So there's no need to kill him, don't you think?"

Sapphire clenched his fists. He was angry, but ultimately not at Yang or her words; he was frustrated at himself for not being able to refute them. No matter what he said, he could not deny the facts. No matter how hard he tried, he could not take back the actions he had taken.

No matter what he thought, he could not help but want to take her side.

"Your sister wouldn't want you to kill any more people either," Yang whispered, reaching out and wrapping her arms around him from behind. "As a fellow big sis, I can guarantee it."

"This ship doesn't exist, you know," Sapphire reminded her halfheartedly as Yang squeezed him hard, which also increased the pain from his bruises.

"What're you talking about?" Yang asked, but decided to dismiss it in the end. "Anyway, Ruby thinks of you as a friend, and that goes for all of us as well. We won't let you go down that path, Saph."

Sapphire closed his eyes. The sensation of being embraced was extremely nostalgic, and the warmth reminded him of his sister, but for some reason another face surfaced in his memory at the same time.

He did not even know her name. All he knew was that she was manipulating the White Fang, had Mercury on her side, and was a sadist who tried to crush his body with his own uniform. Sure, she had the same hair and eye color as Cinder, but that was no reason to be remembering her now. Yet, inexplicably, he did.

"Well?" Yang prompted after a few moments, letting go of him. "Made up your mind yet?"

"Who knows," Sapphire replied. "Guess you'll have to wait and see."

_There's always a choice._

He may not have believed in it. He may not have accepted it. He may have wanted to deny it, but he did not want to lose what he was feeling now – the feeling that he had long believed to be just a thing of the distant past. If he really had to choose between revenge and this, he would-

"Sorry about the hard squeeze," Yang said, leaning against his back. "Does it still hurt?"

The lingering traces of warmth faded, leaving him with a vague sense of loss. It had been brief, maybe even unwelcome, but when that warmth left him he felt strangely empty. He felt, above all, alone.

"Yeah," Sapphire replied in a low voice, gripping a piece of his shirt around the chest area. "Yeah, it does."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this little chapter! If you have a request of your own, don't be shy about it! 
> 
> Till then!


	12. Dancers in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission finally begins.

“You think we should wake them up?”

“Hush, Ruby. I’m trying to get a good angle.”

“Weiss, for crying out loud…”

“Hey, I deserve a little payback after all the things she’s put me through. Besides, you’re in no position to be telling me off, Blake.”

“In my defense, I’m getting revenge on _him_ , not Yang.”

Yang slowly opened her eyes, sleepily checking her surroundings to see what the fuss was about. The moment she did so, the whispers died down, replaced by an awkward silence as the image of three girls swam into view.

Correction: it was the image of two girls, along with a bunch of rose petals fluttering in the air.

“Ruby, you backstabbing little-” Weiss, unable to contain her surprise and outrage, began.

“Mornin’, guys,” Yang greeted, yawning openly without caring if it was unbefitting of a lady. “What’s going on?”

“Er… Nothing!” Weiss said, swiftly hiding the camera in her hands behind her back. Blake was unable to say anything to back up her partner in crime owing to the unfortunate fact that Zwei was now awake.

Yang might have shrugged it off, but then she felt a weight on her back. Turning around, she saw that Sapphire was asleep, leaning against her for support as he snoozed.

Realizing that she had fallen asleep like that after their conversation the previous night, Yang immediately jolted awake. 

“Hold on!” she exclaimed. “It’s not what you think!”

“And what am I thinking?” Weiss countered mischievously, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s- hey, wake up!” Yang shifted from pleading innocence to violently shaking Sapphire in the span of about half a second. “Explain this to them!”

Sapphire did not stir. Even without military training, it was near impossible for anyone to stay asleep while being shaken by a loud Yang, and it went without saying that this was even more true for Sapphire – who was not only trained to be a lighter sleeper than Blake, but had heavy bruises all over his body. 

As such, there was absolutely zero room for doubt that he was just screwing around like the little prick he was.

“I can’t… eat anymore…” he mumbled in his sleep.

“Stop spouting the legendary cliché lines and help me out already!” Yang said desperately. Then she stopped as though she had suddenly realized something. “Wait a minute. I can just wrestle Weiss down and take the camera from her.”

Weiss, who had been merrily filming the entire scene, suddenly went pale. Before she could say anything to change the blonde’s mind, the ravenous beast pounced.

-

Sapphire dutifully kept his eyes closed during the whole thing, but that did not prevent him from hearing the loud noises and Weiss’s screams. To make matters worse, Yang sounded like she was enjoying herself, which made him wonder if she remembered her objective was the camera. When it finally calmed down, he opened his eyes slowly, and was both surprised and not surprised at the same time by what he saw.

“It’s all your fault,” Weiss sobbed, flushing red as she glared at Sapphire. From how her hair was an utter mess and how she was hiding the rest of her body under the sheets, one may have thought she had been violated. If Neptune decided to show up now, he would probably have tried to decapitate Sapphire for it.

Yang was whistling happily, pressing a bunch of buttons on the camera to undoubtedly delete everything on it. Displaying perfect teamwork as a good partner should, Sapphire picked up Zwei and dangled him on the edge of Ruby’s bed where Blake had been seeking refuge.

“So a little bird told me you had some pictures too,” he said pleasantly. Without an ounce of resistance, Blake tossed her Scroll to the edge of the bed so he could take it. “Thank you for your cooperation. Now then- oops.”

He reached for the Scroll with one hand, but in doing so he had accidentally let go of the animal in his hands. Unleashed upon the world by sheer bad luck, Zwei charged towards Blake.

The resulting scream was, if anything, glorious.

-

Ozpin was amused, but he did not let it show on his face; his image was one thing, but turning the wrath of Mt. Goodwitch towards himself was a terrible, terrible idea.

“Well, for one,” he began in his usual mellow tone, addressing the four guilty-looking girls and one clearly bored boy. He could almost feel the heat from Goodwitch as she fumed silently beside him. “Today marks the first time since the establishment of Beacon that not a single student was late for class, so I express my gratitude for the early wake-up call.”

He could now literally feel the heat, and was honestly surprised that Goodwitch was not emitting real flames. He was apparently not alone, either, considering the girls from Team RWBY were edging away from her in fear. Sapphire looked amused for some reason, and Ozpin had to give him credit for literally laughing in the face of death. 

“However,” he said hastily. “I have to remind you that such rambunctious behavior is unbecoming of proper ladies such as yourselves. And gentlemen,” he added, as Sapphire opened his mouth. “As a person,” he corrected as Sapphire opened his mouth again. This time, the former mercenary shut it for good with a scowl. “While I have no complaints about being lively at such a tender age and ‘starting the day with a Yang’, I hope you understand that I cannot just let this slide, either.”

The girls groaned in unison. Given their current record, what with demolishing the cafeteria during a food fight and Yang destroying an entire building because of her hair, it was actually surprising they had gotten away with everything scot-free thus far. Relatively, anyway.

“Objection,” Sapphire declared, pointing at a random spot on the wall with his trigger finger. “I think we can strike a deal about that.”

“Go on,” Ozpin said, leaning back on his chair as he interlocked his fingers.

“I’m sure you understand the importance of producing results,” Sapphire said, attempting to sound professional. “As such, I’m sure you’ll put off punishing us now since it might affect our performance. At the same time, once we succeed in the mission, it would improve the school’s image, so I’m sure that calls for a reward.”

“So you’re saying that as a reward for your successful mission, I should spare all of you over this incident?” Ozpin asked. “Might I remind you that you’ve already agreed to ensure their safety beforehand?”

“Yeah, but actually pulling it off is another thing,” Sapphire replied easily. “The reward’ll keep us motivated too, so it’ll help ensure we come back safe and sound.”

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at the word ‘we’, but said nothing about it. No one noticed that small detail anyway; they were too busy staring at Sapphire and his sudden bout of confidence (as well as his terrible speech).

“Very well,” Ozpin agreed. “I shall look forward to your return then.”

Facing the team that was about to wage a small war against a group of armed extremists, Ozpin smiled.

“Good luck,” he said.

-

Team RWBY and Sapphire halted in their tracks, taking in the sea breeze as they stood outside the Schnee villa. Everyone besides Blake was wearing an eye patch, but only Ruby seemed excited about it.

“It’s huge,” Ruby said in awe. “You own this place, Weiss?”

“Yeah,” Weiss said halfheartedly, distracted by the ground she was standing on. “What on Remnant is that smell?”

“Fertilizer,” Sapphire replied. “Otherwise known as manure, otherwise known as feces, otherwise known as animal poop.”

“Poo-” Weiss’s face was lit with realization before she even finished saying the word. “Are you saying we’re stepping on animal waste products right now?!”

“Yeah,” Sapphire replied nonchalantly to the ice queen, who was livid. “I did some gardening a few days back and I dumped some fertilizer here. Don’t worry about it too much. Hey, your boyfriend’s already given me a black eye,” he added as Weiss drew her weapon menacingly. “I’d say we’re even.”

“Why’d Neptune punch you?” Yang asked.

“I said some stuff,” Sapphire replied evasively. “I wasn’t in a good mood then. It pissed him off, and the next day he just slammed a fist into my eye. Talk about being overly protective.”

“Why did you pud so much poop here?” Ruby asked, pinching her nose as she talked.

“To disorient those with a keen nose,” Sapphire replied. “There’re some Faunus with a really good sense of smell, so this should work. Ask Blake.”

Blake, who was covering her mouth and nose with one hand, nodded reluctantly.

“Right, moving on,” Sapphire said, completely disregarding the smell and Weiss’s murderous one-eyed glare. “Once we get in, we’re using these earbuds to communicate so stuff ‘em in your ears. It’ll pick up what you say clearly so there’s no need to raise your voice. Just in case, we’ll be using call signs as well. Schnee is ‘Blue’, Blake is ‘Gold’-”

“How did you come up with dem?” Ruby asked. “And why is Blake de only one you call by her name?”

“Oh, Ruby,” Yang said, grinning broadly. “It’s obviously based on the hair color of who they love.”

Blake’ and Weiss’s faces flushed red, and they occupied themselves with staring at the ground while steam rose from their red ears.

“Wait, then what about me and Ruby?” Yang asked. “You didn’t pair us up with someone weird, did you?”

“Um…” Sapphire said slowly. This was clearly not the response he had been expecting. As a matter of fact, it was not even supposed to be a joke. “Rose was supposed to be ‘Silver’, and you were supposed to be ‘Lilac’… I based it off eye color, actually…”

“Oh.” Ruby and Yang said awkwardly. “Oops.”

“Mine’s Cloudburst,” Sapphire went on. “Remember who’s what, and-”

“Why’s yours so complicaded?” Ruby asked. “You could be ‘aquamarine’ or someding…”

“My eye color’s amber, actually,” Sapphire corrected her. He had absolutely no intention of answering the first part and telling her how Ozpin had arrived at that call sign for him. “But since it changes color, it’s not gonna work for me. Anyway-”

“Den let’s dink of someding for you!” for someone with her nose pinched shut, Ruby was awfully cheerful for some reason.

“Jackass,” Weiss said immediately.

“Jerk,” Blake added.

“Jaune,” Yang suggested. “We could dye his hair.”

“I appreciate the thought,” Sapphire said, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. “No, really, I do, but fu-”

“How aboud ‘Jewel’?” 

Sapphire froze. Ruby, who had suggested it, was completely oblivious to the abrupt change in his mood.

Countless memories flooded Sapphire’s mind, much more lucid than usual; like his dreams, his flashbacks had become much clearer for some reason after his little chat with that sadistic bitch. It took some effort, but Sapphire finally managed to regain his control.

“It sounds like a name you give to a girl or a pet,” Weiss noted. Then she looked at Sapphire. “Yeah, let’s go with that.”

Sapphire wordlessly took a deep breath, and exhaled. Then he managed a faint smile.

“Yeah, why not?” he agreed.

“Yay!” Ruby cheered.

“Can we please continue this conversation inside?” Weiss asked both exasperatedly and indignantly.

“Agreed,” Blake nodded furiously, following Weiss into the house with Ruby hot on her heels. 

“How many of them do you suppose saw through that smile of yours?” Yang asked without turning to Sapphire.

“About the same number as though who saw through your false cheeriness these couple of days,” Sapphire replied. 

“Why’d you accept that call sign?” Yang asked. “You clearly hated it.”

“I have bad memories of it,” Sapphire admitted. “But after all the stuff I’ve gone through tagging along with you four, I’m starting to give less of a damn. Maybe that’s why I trust your sister more than you do.

“She’s leading a group of vastly different people unique even by Beacon’s standards,” he went on. “And she’s competent at it. Just because she’s young doesn’t mean her abilities are inferior. I’m basing my trust on that ability and her natural charisma, but yours is on the fact that you’ve been protecting her all this time, so you think she’s weak. In other words, I observed her for who she was, but you’ve blinded yourself with your own biased image of her.”

“I’m getting dangerously close to punching your face in,” Yang said in a low tone. 

“You’ll get your chance someday,” Sapphire shrugged, walking past her and towards the door. “But for now, follow your own advice and quit worrying about pointless things. You’ll get yourself killed.”

With that, he entered the house, leaving Yang standing outside in the billowing wind.

-

“Testing open channel,” Sapphire announced once night had fallen. “Jewel to team. Respond.”

“Gold copies,” Blake replied, sounding rather embarrassed. 

“B-Blue copies,” Weiss, on the other hand, was openly embarrassed. 

“I hear- I mean, Silver’s loud and clear!” Ruby said.

“Lilac copies,” Yang said, with surprisingly no bad puns. 

“Okay, comms are clear,” Sapphire noted. “Feel free to talk bulls- wait; is everyone prepped and ready?”

“Of course.”

“Yes.”

“Yup.”

“I lost a box of my shotgun shells somewhere, but I’m otherwise ready,” Yang replied.

“You’ll live,” Sapphire said. “Silver, you better not be fiddling around with your eye patch right now.”

“I’m not,” Ruby replied. Judging from her lack of flustered stuttering, she was not lying. It was a sign that she was serious right now, and Sapphire wished she was in this mode more often.

“Are you all dressed up, Jewel?” Blake asked. It was not an agreed-upon code phrase (they had none to begin with), but Blake was a trained fighter after all.

“Looking pretty and ready for the prom,” Sapphire replied. He felt strangely comfortable talking like this; it felt like he was back to being a mercenary again.

Just then, the lights went off, plunging the entire house into utter darkness. What little moonlight that had managed to creep in through the windows was almost negligible, effectively robbing four of the five fighters of their vision. 

“Our dance partners are here,” Sapphire announced. “They’re a little inexperienced, so close one eye to their clumsy entrance, okay?”

Wordlessly, the four human fighters shifted their eye patches to cover the other eye instead.

-

Adam Taurus looked down at the villa from the helicarrier, wordlessly surveying it as his men prepared for descent. 

“Sir,” one of the Faunus holding a large Scroll in his hands reported. “We’ve detected five Aura readings from inside the house. Four are normal, but one of them is very weak.”

Adam said nothing. He doubted that they would really be stupid enough to put the elder of the Schnee siblings in there, so it had to be a trap. If it was not a trap, and was because they underestimated the White Fang this much, then that stupidity which humans boasted of as intelligence was beyond laughable.

The power was cut, and the lights went out. There was a short period of time before the backup kicked in, but that would be enough; right now, the advantage was their’s.

“Annihilate them,” he commanded. At those two simple yet powerful words, the soldiers leapt out and towards the villa below.

From the overarching shadow of night, they descended upon the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to do a ‘this girl is on fire’ joke with Goodwitch, but she’s a hag who- nothing. Ahem.
> 
> Fun fact: alternatives for the call signs included ‘Lindsay’ for Ruby, ‘Kara’ for Weiss, ‘Arryn’ for Blake and ‘Barbara’ for Yang, but yeah… 
> 
> A-anyway, next chapter’s the battle. Look forward to that! 
> 
> And because I feel bad for all the things I’ve done to Weiss (both here and in my other more depressing fic) I’ve decided to let Weiss have the spotlight in a new story. Its name is ‘White Cat, Black Cat’, and do feel free to check it out!
> 
> Till next time!


	13. Choice Pt. 1

Leaves rustled in his wake, but it was barely loud enough to be perceived as anything more than a small breeze. He was fast, efficient, and he was proud of it. 

The darkness was his ally, and his vision was in no way hindered by it – a feat that only he and most of his brothers and sisters could pull off. There was that one traitor too, but Adam would dispose of her someday. Maybe he would even get to do it himself.

Grinning, he evaded the obvious traps set up by those foolish humans in the villa up ahead. Wire and bear traps might be useful in the dark, but that was only applicable when the target was not a Faunus.

He wanted to laugh, to mock their pitiful efforts, but that would be breaking their stealth approach. He personally did not think it mattered; it was not as if the humans could win just by knowing their location anyway. 

As he leapt over another obvious wire trap, he smirked, but mere seconds later that smirk warped into a jaw wide with surprise and excruciating pain.

-

“We got one,” he whispered into his mic. Through his night vision goggles, he saw that another arrogant Faunus had fallen prey to his trap.

Faunus were stupid little creatures. Give them an obvious wire trap in the dark, and they think that’s all they need to avoid. Add another trap behind the first, but with the wire painted black, and the little suckers dropped like flies.

“Engage,” came the command from his earbud. “Wipe ‘em out.”

-

Sapphire waited, listening for the sound of footsteps but hearing nothing. He strained his ears, but he could not even hear the fighting that was surely going on in the forest outside by now. 

He had little doubt that the White Fang would lose, seeing as his former colleagues had the element of surprise, but he had left the organization for quite some time. Maybe they had fallen so far that they were nothing more than a bunch of wusses now. Not that he cared either way. 

The room was quiet, with nothing happening still. Sapphire had had Ruby, Weiss and Yang use the eye patches and swap them over to allow the previously covered eye to grant them more visibility in the dark. It would only buy them a couple of minutes, if that, but it would allow them to fight back against the White Fang until the backup power kicked in. This also meant that they would not suffer from the temporary blindness caused by glaring lights shining at night vision equipment, and would have no weakness for the White Fang to exploit by not wearing said equipment. 

_Thanks, Luke,_ Sapphire thought, smiling a little. It had been his idea, and it had never been more useful.

That said, it was pointless if nothing happened during that time. Sapphire’s eye was slowly starting to adjust to the dark, which robbed some fun from the whole thing.

Then he heard gunshots. It sounded like blondie’s shotguns, and she sounded fired up over the comms too, so it was probably her. A series of loud noises followed after that, signaling that the other girls had started fighting as well. Although it could equally have been because blondie smashed someone through a wall.

Sighing, Sapphire let his Semblance grow more active, strengthening his body while turning his eyes a familiar shade of red. Adam aside, regular soldiers did not call for Combat Mode; he could take them down with technique alone, but a little augmenting of physical strength always helped.

At last, approaching footsteps could be heard. Smiling in anticipation, Sapphire waited for his guests to arrive.

-

They entered the room without making a sound, weapons at the ready. Adam had told them to look out for traps, but they had stopped doing so after a mere five minutes out of sheer arrogance. In fact, Alvin – the team leader – was surprised they had even agreed to enter the room stealthily in the first place. Not that he blamed them; they were about to assassinate Winter Schnee, after all.

Through his night vision, Alvin could see a bandaged figure on the bed, breathing gently. He would normally have wanted Norman, his second-in-command, to use his keen senses and sense for any tricks, but Norman was removed from the team this time due to his lack of night vision.

With a cursory glance at the gadget on his wrist, Alvin confirmed the Aura readings of the mummy on the bed. At those levels, Schnee would not even be able to protect herself from any attack.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not a pretty girl.”

A single red light shone against the surrounding darkness, seemingly illuminating the whole room with its presence. Alvin initially thought it was some sort of laser weapon, but as the body on the bed rose, so did the red light, blinking as it did so. The mummy – supposedly Winter Schnee – was talking, and she had a man’s voice.

“Still, there’s no need to worry,” the human beneath the bandages tore off the white pieces of cloth, a bloodthirsty smile splitting his face. He clearly could not wait anymore, and was every inch of his being was itching for a fight. “When you wake up, it’ll be in a hospital, so you can try hitting on the nurses then.”

The murderous intent paralyzed him and his team. Alvin had barely processed that one quip before the red light was shone in his face, this time in pairs. He had a split second to realize that they were the human’s eyes, before-

“If you wake up at all, that is,” Sapphire hissed.

-

The lights came back on, robbing the Faunus in the villa of their advantage. Now that their vision was no longer affected, Team RWBY would not have any problem with the small fry. The biggest problem, of course, was not there.

“Jewel to Team,” Sapphire said, walking past the unconscious White Fang goons. He had let them live, but he was unsure if he had scared them a little too much before knocking them out. “Any signs of the Bull?”

“Don’t start talking when we’re in the middle of fighting!” Weiss complained, her voice accompanied by a series of sharp, metallic sounds in the background.

“Negative,” Blake replied. In the background, several angry roars could be heard, and one would have thought they had come from regular wild animals given Blake’s composure as she spoke. 

“Who’s that?” Ruby asked. “Oh, wait, you mean-”

“Never mind,” Sapphire sighed. “I’m done with these idiots so I’ll head over to-”

“He’s here,” Yang panted over the comms. “He’s right in front of-”

A pained cry followed after that, and the line went dead. It took Sapphire a full second to react, and in just a fraction of that time all the blood in his body froze. Sprinting like a man chased by death itself, the former mercenary took off to where Yang was supposed to be.

-

Yang stood up, gritting her teeth and biting back on the blood that would otherwise have escaped her lips. Paying no heed to the huge hole in the wall she had just created, the blond brawler dusted her clothes and walked out of the rubble.

Normally, the force – enough to make her body pierce through concrete – would have killed her or rendered her paralyzed if not for Aura. However, what mattered was not that; it was the man who had managed to throw Yang with such force using just one hand.

 _I can’t let him get to Ruby,_ Yang thought fiercely, clenching her fists. _If he does-_

Her thoughts were cut short as Adam closed in, a brief flash of metal entering her vision. Instinctively, she quickly held up one arm to defend herself, but Yang was still sent flying by the resulting blow. 

Coughing out blood as she slammed into another wall, Yang put a hand on the ground in an attempt to get up. Before she could even exert any force on that hand, however, she was immediately lifted off the ground.

Adam’s mouth twitched. He said nothing, and his bloodlust was intense, but despite that he could not hide the utter disgust from having to touch a filthy human. As his grip on Yang’s throat tightened, he unsheathed his sword, cutting her left arm and drawing a thin line of blood. It was a light wound, but it told him what he wanted to know.

Her Aura was depleted. She was in a state where a single stab could kill her – a state only worthless humans could fall into. He had not expected things to be this easy, since they had clearly been confident enough to challenge the White Fang in the first place, but this was ridiculous.

Without a single word, he thrust his sword forward, right at the nameless blonde’s throat-

But the blade never made contact. Instead, something invisible had struck the side of his sword, almost knocking it out of his hand. Releasing the blonde’s throat from his grip, Adam sheathed his sword, keeping his grip on it firm as he turned to the direction of the attack. He could always keep the sword drawn and fight that way, but his skills were far deadlier when he could use his Iaido.

“What, no monologue?” the young man with glowing red eyes asked with a cocky smirk despite his panting. “I thought it was a thing for the bad guys to monologue when they’ve got the upper hand and before they kill someone.”

Adam did not reply, but he did not attack either; rather, he seemed to be observing this new opponent at present, as well as the queer weapon in his hands.

“Oh, are you wondering how I pulled off that attack?” Sapphire asked. “I used arrows instead of bullets. There’s no gunpowder, so you couldn’t hear or smell it, could you? Or are you looking at me because I looked familiar?”

Neither of them made a move. Sapphire had Daybreak pointed at Adam, while Duskfall lay by his side. Both were in Crossbow form, which would normally be a good thing considering their distance. Right now, however, Adam was far too close to Yang, who was unconscious and hence unable to escape.

“Well, I can’t expect you to remember the face of everyone you’ve killed,” Sapphire went on, shrugging. “But what about those you’ve failed to kill? Like myself, for instance.”

Adam relaxed his stance, standing upright and removing his hand from his sword’s grip. He just stood there, unmoving and silent, glaring at Sapphire with vague interest.

“Hey, what’s it like to look at the living proof of your failures?” Sapphire taunted. “I’m assuming it’s not warm and fuzzy, at least. Oh wait, you animals are always warm and fuzzy; what am I talking about…”

Detecting a surge of killing intent, Sapphire could not help but smile. At this rate, he could at least ensure Yang would not be targeted, but provoking an opponent with far superior combat abilities was akin to suicide.

I’ve got the advantage in range, he thought. If I can just-  
Her thoughts were cut short as Adam closed in, a brief flash of metal entering her vision. Instinctively, she quickly held up one arm to defend herself, but Yang was still sent flying by the resulting blow. 

Coughing out blood as she slammed into another wall, Yang put a hand on the ground in an attempt to get up. Before she could even exert any force on that hand, however, she was immediately lifted off the ground.

Adam’s mouth twitched. He said nothing, and his bloodlust was intense, but despite that he could not hide the utter disgust from having to touch a filthy human. As his grip on Yang’s throat tightened, he unsheathed his sword, cutting her left arm and drawing a thin line of blood. It was a light wound, but it told him what he wanted to know.

Her Aura was depleted. She was in a state where a single stab could kill her – a state only worthless humans could fall into. He had not expected things to be this easy, since they had clearly been confident enough to challenge the White Fang in the first place, but this was ridiculous.

Without a single word, he thrust his sword forward, right at the nameless blonde’s throat-

But the blade never made contact. Instead, something invisible had struck the side of his sword, almost knocking it out of his hand. Releasing the blonde’s throat from his grip, Adam sheathed his sword, keeping his grip on it firm as he turned to the direction of the attack. He could always keep the sword drawn and fight that way, but his skills were far deadlier when he could use his Iaido.

“What, no monologue?” the young man with glowing red eyes asked with a cocky smirk despite his panting. “I thought it was a thing for the bad guys to monologue when they’ve got the upper hand and before they kill someone.”

Adam did not reply, but he did not attack either; rather, he seemed to be observing this new opponent at present, as well as the queer weapon in his hands.

“Oh, are you wondering how I pulled off that attack?” Sapphire asked. “I used arrows instead of bullets. There’s no gunpowder, so you couldn’t hear or smell it, could you? Or are you looking at me because I looked familiar?”

Neither of them made a move. Sapphire had Daybreak pointed at Adam, while Duskfall lay by his side. Both were in Crossbow form, which would normally be a good thing considering their distance. Right now, however, Adam was far too close to Yang, who was unconscious and hence unable to escape.

“Well, I can’t expect you to remember the face of everyone you’ve killed,” Sapphire went on, shrugging. “But what about those you’ve failed to kill? Like myself, for instance.”

Adam relaxed his stance, standing upright and removing his hand from his sword’s grip. He just stood there, unmoving and silent, glaring at Sapphire with vague interest.

“Hey, what’s it like to look at the living proof of your failures?” Sapphire taunted. “I’m assuming it’s not warm and fuzzy, at least. Oh wait, you animals are always warm and fuzzy; what am I talking about…”

Detecting a surge of killing intent, Sapphire could not help but smile. At this rate, he could at least ensure Yang would not be targeted, but provoking an opponent with far superior combat abilities was akin to suicide.

 _I’ve got the advantage in range,_ he thought. _If I can just-_

The rest of the sentence was interrupted by a loud gunshot, followed by what appeared to be a black bullet piercing through the air. Catching a mere glimpse of it, Sapphire did a backflip, deflecting the object with his foot. 

The moment his feet touched the ground, Adam was already in his face, his empty sheath aimed at Sapphire’s throat. Tilting his head to one side, he managed to dodge the blow, but that also gave Adam the time to catch his falling sword, which had been the black projectile moments before.

Now that his advantage of distance was robbed from him in an instant, Sapphire retreated, backing away as he stayed on the defensive. Blocking and parrying with his crossbows, he kept his eyes on Adam’s sword in an attempt to follow its movements, but they were too swift for him; almost immediately after the slash ended, his sword was already back in its sheath, as though the slash had come out of nowhere.

There was not enough time to change his weapons into bladed form. Backed against a wall, Sapphire flicked his wrist and threw a punch at Adam’s chest, completely ignoring defense.

A sharp report sounded, and Adam froze, his weapon stopped in mid-draw. The impact of the blow had sent him back a few steps, but he was otherwise uninjured. Panting, Sapphire got into a proper stance, but it was different from when he used blades; this time, his weapons were in their block forms, with nothing but what seemed like barrels at the ends. 

Ever since he became incapable of using Aura, Sapphire had never brought out the gun forms (or as Luke called it, the ‘arm cannon form’) of Daybreak and Duskfall, at least until now. The power was great, sure, but firing bullets was something the crossbow form could do as well, not to mention firing arrows came with far less recoil. 

Without pausing to catch his breath, Sapphire charged, firing a vicious right hook at Adam’s face. With hardly any movement, Adam spun his sword and deflected the blow, causing the gun in Sapphire’s hand to fire at the wall behind him. Using that opening, Sapphire stepped in, landing a solid punch at Adam’s gut with his other hand. The resulting gunshot did not draw blood, but managed to push the Faunus back a little more. 

Sapphire closed the distance again, throwing another punch. It was easily blocked, but once again the bullet added enough force to drive Adam back. Ducking the sheath as Adam counterattacked from that position, Sapphire pushed against the ground with his hands, kicking forward with both legs. While Adam blocked it by shielding himself with his arms, the attack managed to put enough distance between them.

Arms trembling, Sapphire quickly changed his weapons to their bladed form; his arms, from wrist to shoulder, felt so sore he barely even wanted to move them anymore. Withstanding the recoil from firing guns was one thing, but the recoil from high caliber guns mounted to his arms was another thing altogether, not to mention he had improper posture from using them as part of a punch.

“You have it good, blondie,” he complained under his breath as he leapt towards Adam.

But the swordsman was ready for him. In one swift, fluid motion, he left a deep red gash across Sapphire’s right arm, and his sword was back in its sheath before blood could even gush out of it. Sapphire cried out in pain, but managed to thrust his left hand forward, attempting to at least land a clean hit. 

A sharp pain pierced his stomach, sending him crashing into a wall. When he realized that the force had come from a kick and not a stab, Sapphire’s entire body was already going into spasms of pain. The coppery taste of blood slowly spread in his mouth, forcing him to spit out some of the sticky liquid.

“Safety off,” he groaned. 

A gunshot roared, and Adam’s sword flew through the air towards Sapphire again. Through his deep crimson eyes, Sapphire could see the movement of the sword clearly enough, but made no attempt to dodge it. Instead, he raised one hand and grabbed it before it could hit him.

“Now then,” he muttered, keeping his words slow so that Adam could catch them. “It’s time for Round Two, dontcha think?”

Throwing the sword like a javelin, Sapphire broke into a sprint immediately after the weapon left his hand. Adam stepped to the side and avoided the sword, but to Sapphire’s surprise he managed to grab it with one hand as it flew past him, and spun around using the built-up momentum to slash Sapphire in one motion.

Ducking in the middle of his sprint, Sapphire supported his body with his hands, pushing himself up into a front flip, dropping an axe kick onto Adam’s head. Hitting nothing and sinking into the floor, Sapphire swung his right hand towards Adam’s gut while blocking his sword with his left hand’s blade. While the attack connected, it felt more like striking a solid wall than cloth. Needless to say, it did no damage whatsoever, but it was not a wasted attack.

Adam seemed to have sensed that something was amiss, and backed away from Sapphire. As a seasoned fighter, he was well aware of the sudden burst of strength and agility brought upon by a close proximity to death, but his experience and instinct told him this was different. Sapphire’s sudden increase in strength and speed was impressive, but his movements had also lost their finesse; despite being able to strike harder and faster, the young man’s attacks had lost all former trace of technique. Even so, it was clearly not caused by desperation, but Adam did not know exactly what it was yet.

Sapphire, on the other hand, had no time to think. The more Adam backed away, the more he advanced, although he was starting to feel the burning pain that came from his body, particularly from his legs.

In his current state, he was faster than Adam, and he was far stronger. Even so, he was unable to land a decisive blow, and to land a clean hit at all was the best he could do while defending against Adam’s. To make matters worse, the pain was getting more intense, which could only mean his remaining time in Combat Mode was short. With that in mind, he purposely left an opening in his attacks.

Naturally, Adam took that chance, drawing his sword and slashing at Sapphire’s chest. The next moment, fresh blood sprayed across his face as metal met raw flesh, but it was by no means the result he had expected.

Smirking, Sapphire held his grip on the sword’s blade, letting his blood drip onto the floor and flow down the weapon’s edge. With the blade digging deep into his hands, he pulled Adam closer, unwilling to relinquish his hold on the wretched sword.

“What’s the matter?” he panted. “Can’t cut my hand off?”

While he had never really tested it out before, Sapphire knew that there had to be a reason his body did not suffer severe injury from his own Semblance’s effects. In order to keep up with the increased strength, he suspected that his body should have become physically tougher as well. While the results were not spectacular, he had managed to stop Adam’s sword without losing his hand or fingers.

“Why don’t you just let go?” Sapphire asked, reaching out and grabbing Adam’s neck with one hand while keeping the other on the sword. “What’s that? You want to be riddled with holes? Well then-”

A series of mechanical clicks sounded from inside his pants, and Sapphire’s smirk widened. 

“Be my guest.”

At those words, every pistol on Lifesaver fired by themselves, showering Adam with a hail of bullets.

-

Sapphire fell to his knees, panting heavily amidst the large cloud of debris. His hands were trembling and blood was pouring from his wounds, but he had no time for that.

“Damn it…” he cursed. 

At the last minute, Adam had managed to escape his hold. Due to the deep cuts and the copious amounts of blood lost, Sapphire’s grip had been weak and the blood made it easier for Adam to slide out of his hold. The same applied for the sword, which the Faunus had managed to pull from Sapphire’s weakened one-hand grip before the gunfire went off. In a desperate attempt to prevent Adam from getting away safely, Sapphire had let loose two Dust grenades, but they only ended up hurting him more.

Adam emerged from the smoke, his clothes a little dirtied but otherwise undamaged. He drew his sword – slowly this time – and pointed its sharp crimson tip at Sapphire’s face.

“Out of tricks?” he asked, raising his weapon. But before Sapphire could reply, he had already swung it down.

Even then, the human’s smirk did not fade from his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was actually intending to finish the entire fight in this chapter, but it’s too long so have a… cliffhanger? I guess?
> 
> I couldn’t get a proper translation for Iaido, so I just left the term as is. Look it up if you’re interested. Oh, and speaking of fighting styles, it felt like it’s been forever since Sapphire had Lifesaver auto-fire (not really), so I added that in.
> 
> Part 2 coming up… soon, I hope. Till then!


	14. Choice Pt. 2

The room was silent. Not a single sound was uttered, and nothing but a faint ringing remained. The cause of it had been metal striking metal, and the very impact had sent sparks flying everywhere.

Gambol Shroud’s blade hovered inches above Sapphire’s face, trembling as it attempted to force back Adam’s crimson sword. They were stuck in a stalemate, but not because Adam was trying to overpower this adversary and kill Sapphire that way.

It was because he had made eye contact with its owner.

“Adam,” Blake said in a hushed whisper, her expression wrought with pain.

Adam’s expression was unreadable as he looked at Blake Belladonna, silently maintaining his position. He was perfectly able to withdraw his weapon, or simply use this opening to slash her, but he did not. Instead, he just stood there, and stared.

“So you’re with them?” he asked at last, his tone low.

Blake broke the eye contact, tearing her eyes away from Adam’s. Even though he was wearing a mask, she could tell what look must have resided in his eyes. She could tell how much it hurt him, and it was too painful for her to meet that gaze.

Everything became a blur. For an instant, it looked like Adam had swung his sword towards her, but before it could reach, it was knocked back in a brilliant shower of sparks.

Sapphire, taking advantage of the short distance between them, had blocked Adam’s counterattack and retaliated with a front snap kick, actually drawing a grunt from Adam as the Faunus went flying. However, he did not even crash, and managed to maintain his footing with relative ease. Sapphire, on the other hand, slumped miserably onto the floor, panting from the effort.

“Are you alright?” Blake asked, setting down her weapons as she knelt down next to him.

“Don’t be stupid,” Sapphire grunted. “He’s still-”

“I know,” Blake assured him. Right on cue, Ruby and Weiss seemingly appeared out of nowhere, engaging Adam in a two-on-one. “Leave it to Ruby and Weiss. For now, cancel Combat Mode.”

“So you heard…” Sapphire muttered. “Fine. Neutral.”

Upon that command, Lifesaver gave off a series of clicks and a drawn out hissing sound, then nothing. Blake began to check Sapphire’s wounds, though she did not seem to be carrying around any bandages or disinfectant with her.

“I’m fine,” Sapphire insisted, standing up slowly. “We can’t let Schne- Weiss and Rose take him by themselves. Let’s go.”

“Four-on-one is too much,” Blake said, shaking her head. “There’ll be no room for coordination. Besides, you’re in no condition to-”

“Then pull them back,” Sapphire snapped. “You wouldn’t be satisfied if you can’t settle this yourself, would you? Besides,” he added, since Blake was keeping quiet as she considered his question. “Blondie’s injured. Have Weiss and Rose patch her up. We’ll finish this fight in the meantime.”

Blake opened her mouth – probably to protest – but shut it in the end. Without as much as a glance towards Sapphire, she picked up Gambol Shroud and stood up.

“Don’t die on me,” she said.

“Oh, please,” Sapphire replied, a confident smirk on his face. “He couldn’t kill me the first time, even when I let him. Oh, and sorry you have to settle for me instead of your monkey boyfriend.”

“I’ll make you swallow Dust after this,” Blake threatened. 

“You can try,” Sapphire challenged. “Until then, I’m gonna need to borrow your assistance for a bit.”

“What happened to fighting alone?” Blake asked.

“Does it look like I can beat him by myself?” Sapphire retorted. “You can laugh at me all you want later, so help me out now. Please.”

“Fair enough,” Blake managed a slight smile, despite the situation. “Ruby! Weiss! Pull back!”

“What?!” Weiss asked, her voice mixed with surprise and outrage. “You can’t be-”

“Weiss,” Ruby interrupted her. Her gaze was firm – a sign that she was totally serious right now. It was at times like these that Weiss wondered if the girl was faking her real age. “Leave it to them.”

However reluctantly, Weiss still obeyed, leaping into the air and stepping on a glyph which pushed her away from the battle. 

“Blondie needs help,” Sapphire instructed, and that was all he said; by then, he had already begun sprinting alongside Blake.

The entire space became engulfed in raw murderous intent, assaulting Sapphire like a tidal wave. Despite his experience as a mercenary, he was still shaken by the sheer hostility pouring out of Adam’s being.

That man was many times his superior. He was sure of it. No matter how hard he tried, there was no way he could beat him in direct battle. Even Combat Mode had hardly managed to faze him. There was nothing Sapphire could do besides acknowledge the fact that Adam Taurus was simply out of his league. There was nothing he could do besides recognize the difference in their abilities. But even then, he did not stop running.

Blake stopped abruptly in the middle of her sprint, allowing Sapphire to overtake her. Without stopping or turning to see what she was doing, Sapphire merely continued his advance towards Adam, who simply stood there looking at them. He looked pretty casual, but there was no use hiding it when he was emanating that much bloodlust.

A gunshot sounded behind him, and Sapphire stretched out his hand to the side. When he felt the sharp tip of Gambol Shroud graze his skin, he curled his fingers across the ribbon and pulled with all his strength.

Soaring through the air, Blake planted her foot on Sapphire’s back, using it as a foothold as she proceeded to jump over him. Pulling Gambol Shroud along with her, she launched a downwards slash at Adam, fueled by her increased momentum. 

Adam blocked the blow with his sheath, immediately following up with a counterattack – a slash that lasted a mere moment, before the blade returned into his sheath. While it drew no blood, it managed to knock Blake back with great force. The moment her attack was repelled, Blake spun through the air, just as Sapphire closed the distance between them.

Striking in the opening left by countering Blake, Sapphire thrust his left hand forward, Daybreak aimed right at Adam’s throat. Instead of parrying it, Adam dodged, stepping to the side as he gripped his sword. Sapphire then swung Duskfall at him, forcing him to parry the blow and give up on his counter. However, in doing so, he ruined his own balance, falling over in the process.

Blake filled the gap instantly, Gambol Shroud drawn as she struck Adam’s shoulder, dual-wielding her weapon. Adam did not yield, responding by kicking Sapphire towards Blake and backing away. Creating and jumping on a clone of herself, Blake evaded being knocked over, but Sapphire still ended up crashing.

Quickly getting to his feet, Sapphire re-entered the fray, timing his blows according to Blake’s and filling in the gaps to her attacks. Adam, unable to counterattack in any way, merely stuck to defending, blocking and parrying every blow they could dish out. 

However, it was not as if Adam was losing; aside from losing the ability to counterattack, he was perfectly unfazed in the face of being outnumbered. Granted, Blake and Sapphire had no prior experience in teaming up, and as such their coordination was bad, but they were both trained fighters and Blake knew Adam’s fighting technique well. For the two of them to manage so little was, if anything, laughable.

As they were right now, Sapphire was merely attacking when Blake was not, and vice-versa. To Adam, it felt more like someone swinging down a sword with one hand, then the other, and repeating the process in said fixed pattern. What was odd, however, was that with the red-eyed man’s speed, he could easily have done a better job, even if this was the first time he was fighting with a partner.

After experiencing the near-impossible increase in abilities firsthand, Adam was well aware of what the man was capable of. At that level, he could have reacted to Blake’s movements in real time perfectly and actually pose a proper threat then, but he did not. Not only that, he was also far slower than before – almost as if he had returned to the point just after saving the blonde.

His strange burst of strength had a time limit. Now that he was past it, the man was no longer a threat. Having arrived at that conclusion, Adam drew his sword, keeping his attention on the cat Faunus fighting alongside the man.

Blake felt her blade make contact with Adam’s sheath, and was about to pull back to allow Sapphire to step in when Gambol Shroud flew into the air. Unable to comprehend what had just happened, she paused, allowing a fierce jab to strike her in the gut. 

With Blake’s sudden removal from the battle, Sapphire paused as well, but managed to recover in time to avoid the blade. Blocking it with Daybreak, Sapphire thrust Duskfall at Adam’s chest, only for it to be parried by the sheath. As his balance was disrupted by the parry, Sapphire’s upper body jerked forward involuntarily, greeted by a sharp headbutt from Adam.

With a pained cry, Sapphire fired another Dust grenade by his feet, forcing Adam to leap away. The resulting explosion, while small, managed to push Sapphire back as well, putting some distance between them.

“He can dual-wield?” Sapphire panted, quickly getting to his feet.

“He was my mentor,” Blake reminded him, keeping her eyes on the dissipating debris cloud as well.

“Now you’re gonna tell me he has a thing for blondes,” Sapphire retorted. “Oh wait-”

Without letting Sapphire finish his pointless remark, a loud gunshot resounded, and Adam’s crimson sword pierced through the smoke easily moments later. Blake managed to deflect it, but as she did so her eyes went wide with shock. 

Dashing through the smoke after his weapon was Adam, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Catching his weapon as it spiraled through the air, he closed in on Blake, striking her mercilessly with his blade and sheath.

While Blake attempted to block the blows, occasionally depending on her Aura to absorb some, Sapphire stepped in, slashing at Adam’s shoulder. Without even turning to look at him, Adam spun his sheath in a circle and smacked away Sapphire’s weapon. At this, Sapphire smirked.

While Duskfall’s attack was being parried, Daybreak was already transforming into its gun form. With a powerful gunshot backwards, it pushed Sapphire forward, ignoring the loss of balance from Adam’s counter. Bringing both arms forward in a pincer attack, Sapphire managed to grab on to both of Adam’s wrists, pinning him down. Of course, it was not going to be enough, and Adam would surely be able to strike back, but that split second of immobilization was enough.

A bright explosion erupted beneath them, its brilliance swallowing them as it proceeded to illuminate the room further. The deafening roar shook the very air around them, ricocheting off the walls and echoing in Ruby’ and Weiss’s ears.

-

“Never… doing that again…” 

Grumbling as he rolled off Blake, Sapphire coughed as he lay on his back, not bothering to get up. At the last moment, he had twisted his body a bit so that he could shield Blake, so her damage was likely reduced, but an explosion to the face certainly stung like crazy without Aura. Even if the firepower had been reduced.

“Agreed,” Blake said. She would totally have lectured him about being reckless like Weiss would have, but she had to admit the situation had been pretty bad. In his shoes, she would probably have done the same thing. Probably. “You alright?”

“I feel like I got hit by a truck,” Sapphire complained, standing up and attempting to look through the smoke. “So yeah, I feel just peachy.”

“Good to hear,” Blake replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “What on Remnant did you use?”

“Anti-Aura Grenade,” Sapphire replied. “The more the target guards themselves with Aura, the more damage it’ll deal to them. Most people don’t use it, but my Aura’s mostly sealed in Lifesaver when it’s in Neutral Mode, so…”

“So you thought that suicidal move was a good idea?” Blake asked. 

“Hey, it damaged him,” Sapphire defended. “Compared to our crappy teamwork, it was loads better.”

Blake held her tongue this time. Truthfully speaking, she agreed with Sapphire, but there was no way she would just approve of his methods. One misstep, and he would have died. Not to mention Adam-

A sudden flash of something metallic cut through the dust cloud, splitting it in two instantly. From the other side, Adam walked forward, seemingly unhurt from the previous blast. 

“You sure he’s a Faunus?” Sapphire asked, not keeping his eyes off the enemy. “Like, you’re sure he’s not part machine?”

“Pretty sure,” Blake replied nervously.

“Well then, one way to find out. Sorry,” Sapphire shrugged, giving the command before Blake could say anything: “Safety Off.”

With a huge burst of speed, Sapphire flew through the air, weapons at the ready. Thrusting Daybreak forward, he winced as Adam parried it and sent his hand smashing towards the ground. Without caring about his disrupted balance, Sapphire pushed against the ground with his palm, flipping his body forward and changing his attack to a front flip axe kick. 

As Lifesaver sank into the ground, Sapphire swung Duskfall at Adam, catching his sword in the middle of its motion. Getting to his feet, he fired a bullet from Lifesaver at the incoming sheath, forcing it away from his skull.

Adam’s reactions were more sluggish, and they were clearly slower than before. While he looked unharmed, there was no doubt the grenade had managed to do some damage somewhere. Satisfied with the result, Sapphire advanced, pulling off a front snap kick to push Adam into a solid wall.

“Why don’t you give it a rest?” he asked. “You’re one on five here. Your little friends aren’t coming to help; they’ll never make it here. Why not be smart and flee?”

Adam did not reply, and instead charged towards Sapphire, sword and sheath by his sides. For a heavily injured man, he was surprisingly energetic. Deflecting Adam’s sword easily with his augmented strength, Sapphire ducked to avoid the incoming sheath. As it swung over his head, he stood up, thrusting Duskfall forward with enough force to rival a bullet. 

A strange sensation met Sapphire’s right arm, sending dull throbs across his muscles. It was the sense of resistance, made by the opposing body against his attack. It was the sensation he had felt many times before: when his weapons pierced enemy flesh.

Finally drawing blood, Sapphire pulled his weapon back, watching the crimson liquid gush out violently from Adam’s shoulder. Before Adam could make his move, Sapphire raised a foot, bringing it up against the middle of the Faunus’s legs.

Under normal circumstances, it may have been treated as a joke. Right now, a kick to the groin was so out of place it was not even remotely funny, but it also ended up being the least expected attack. If anything, it was also the most effective.

Regardless of his experience, skills and whatever, Adam was still a man. Even if he was superior to Sapphire in every aspect of combat, he could not ignore raw, unfiltered pain. There was just no shrugging it off, no matter who he was.

Although he wanted to relish Adam’s look of utter shock, pain and indignation, Sapphire instead made most of the opening and nailed Adam with a roundhouse kick, breaking bones as he sent the Faunus flying out the window.

“Neutral,” he panted, coughing up some blood as he did so. 

“Sapphire!” Blake called out, running over and catching him before he collapsed onto the floor. Her teammates followed behind her, Yang included. “Are you alright?”

“Peachy,” Sapphire repeated, trying to catch his breath. He took a few more minutes to do so, observing the broken window silently. “Okay, he’s not coming back. We’re giving chase, girls.”

“What’re you talking about?” Weiss asked incredulously. There were a bunch of things she had to say to him, but she held back. “You’re in no condition to be chasing him. Besides, we’ve already won, so-”

“We’ll be clueless to what they’re planning after this,” Sapphire reminded her. “We knock him out, ask him nicely what they’re planning, and we’ll stop the White Fang for good. We don’t have time to waste, so get moving.”

Weiss opened her mouth to protest, but simply shut it in the end; even as they continued talking, Adam was surely getting away. Even if he had no assistance from his men in the forest, Adam still had the cover of the night out there after all.

“If you find him, call for help,” Sapphire told them. “I’ll join you shortly once I’ve rested up. And blondie,” he added, as the girls prepared to leave through the shattered window. “We need to talk after this.”

Yang did not reply, and did not even meet his eyes as she followed her teammates out of the window after a brief, curt nod. She had not said a word, but that merely gave Sapphire an answer in a different way. 

Sighing, Sapphire switched off his earbud.

-

Adam held his breath, watching the four girls run off into the forest. Luckily for him, the rancid stench of fertilizer masked his smell from Blake’s nose, allowing him to hide from even her. 

Gnashing his teeth in rage, he stood up and made his way back to the villa, clutching the wound in his shoulder. It was deep, but he had stabbed another piece of metal into it to stop the bleeding, so another round of combat was not an issue. 

Of course, he had no intention of escaping just like this. He had been mocked, downright insulted, and the human had rubbed salt all over his wound by resorting to cheap tricks and reinforcements against an outnumbered enemy. How could he simply take this lying down?

“Heh. How simple.”

Hearing the man’s cocky remark, Adam looked up. Bold as brass and wearing an annoying smile on his face, Sapphire waved at him, sitting comfortably on the front door’s steps.

“The one place someone won’t escape to is the place they’ve escaped _from_ ,” Sapphire went on. “I can’t say I wasn’t expecting you to take advantage of that – heck, it’s why I’m here – but who could’ve guessed you’d be this predictable?”

Adam gritted his teeth in fury. Not only had he utterly humiliated him, this human managed to anticipate his moves? A mere human – a weak, pathetic being like him – was able to do all this and, despite his weakness, was still breathing? Was that even possible?

“That said, you probably couldn’t depend on getting help from your _worthless_ subordinates,” Sapphire taunted merrily. “They all went silent over your comms, right? Probably because, oh I dunno, they’ve had their asses kicked?”

Adam’s grip on Blush tightened. If he was to say anymore, he would make sure that not a single atom of him remained to walk this Remnant.

“Cheap tricks,” he said. “But that’s only to be expected, from the likes of you humans.”

“Huh? ‘The likes of you humans’? That makes it sound as if you Faunus are above humans, doesn’t it?” Sapphire asked. “Should a race that’s above us really be the ones fighting us for the right to co-exist as equals? Who’re you trying to kid? The idiots who degraded your race and wore the faces of mere monsters – manifestations of raw hostility and instinct – have always been the Faunus themselves, jackass. 

“Now then,” Sapphire continued merrily, standing up. “We’re both without Aura, so how about it? A real fight, no holds barred, with our lives actually on the line? What say you?”

“You deserve no such thing,” Adam spat. “For all the despicable tricks you’ve pulled, you’re not worthy of a ‘real fight’.”

“Ah, yes,” Sapphire laughed darkly, producing his blades. “Uh huh. ‘Despicable’. Right.

“That’s exactly why you White Fang losers are disgusting.”

At those words, Adam charged, fueled by white-hot rage. However, even with his incredible speed despite his condition, he was unable to reach Sapphire.

A burning sensation grazed Adam’s cheek, leaving behind what felt like a light wound. The damage was negligible, but the attack had been impossible.

Sapphire had hardly moved from his spot, if at all, but a bullet had been fired from somewhere, somehow. Furthermore, judging from the wound he had sustained, the bullet had been fired from the ground beneath his feet. 

“What’s with the look?” Sapphire asked. “Weren’t you going to cut my head off?”

Something was amiss. Given Adam’s enhanced sense of smell, there was no way he couldn’t have smelled the gunpowder from the gun as it fired, before the sound would reach his ears. Even though it was only a fraction of a second, he would have been able to react to the bullet without fail, or at least determine where it was coming from. Why was it that he couldn’t smell it this time?

“What’s wrong?” Sapphire asked. “Oh, the smell? Sorry, but I did some gardening a while back; the fertilizer sure smells fresh, huh?”

So that was it. As long as he stood here, outside the villa and on the foul-smelling animal waste, there was no way for Adam to smell the hidden guns beneath the surface. But how was he pulling that trigger?

As pointless questions raked his mind, Adam caught a movement in the corner of his eye. Sapphire, clearly pleased by Adam’s reaction, yanked on what appeared to be thin air. Instantly, several sparks flew from the ground, followed by countless miniscule pieces of metal tearing through the air and towards the sky. 

Shotgun pellets. Even with his night vision, it was difficult for Adam to dodge them effectively when he could hardly tell where they were coming from, especially when several burst out in multiple directions upon each firing.

Unable to dodge every single one, Adam let some graze his clothes, tearing off small pieces of fabric. Just as the last few ripped past him, a heavy impact slammed right into his face. It was not a bullet or a cannon ball; it was Sapphire’s knee.

Flying through the air and tumbling across the earth, Adam quickly got up, wiping the dirt and fragments of his mask off his bleeding face. Facing the youth who had just gained the upper hand through such pitiful means, his anger only grew.

“Such petty tricks,” he growled. “Have you no honor?”

“That’s why you’re disgusting, you miserable piece of crap,” Sapphire replied. “You don’t get it yet? I don’t care if you’re Faunus or not; I’m repulsed by the fact that you attached a sense of ‘honor’ or ‘justice’ to your killing.”

Panting, Adam just stood there, listening to his words. He was being cautious, but at the same time the man’s words piqued his interest, albeit only somewhat.

“Honor? Don’t make me laugh,” Sapphire spat, a look of utter disgust spread across his face. “We’re engaging in a battle with our lives on the line; there’s no such thing as playing fair. Besides, we’ve committed the gravest sin a person can commit – taking another’s life. We don’t deserve to spout nonsense like ‘justice’.

“What makes you think you deserve to prattle about those high and mighty ideals when you’re nothing but a worthless murderer like I am?” he went on, his scarlet eyes pulsating with rage. “You think the bloodshed you’ve caused can be justified because you’re doing it for your kind? You think there’s any form of justification for taking anybody’s lives? All of you, at the White Fang… hiding behind your pathetic excuse of ‘justice’ and ‘seeking equality’ just so you can continue lying to yourselves that you haven’t sunk so deep… That’s what makes me sick, Taurus! You know what it’s like to suffer, don’t you? You’ve experienced how unfair the world can be, haven’t you? That’s why you’re fighting, isn’t it? If you’ve really come this far and fought your way through that, don’t give me cheap excuses like honor or fairness!”

“You presume to understand our suffering?” Adam seethed. “You think you know what it’s like to live shunned by humanity for what you are? Do you understand what it’s like for my kind-”

“No, I don’t!” Sapphire cut across him. “Because I’ve lived my life believing the whole world – humans and Faunus alike – was my enemy! How the heck would I know what it’s like to be shunned by another race? I had everything robbed from me by my own kind and Faunus alike, in a war they started!”

They charged, closing in on each other like speeding bullets. With a pull of his hand, Sapphire triggered more traps, throwing off Adam’s balance with bullets and wires as he effortlessly landed another kick, sending Adam spiraling towards the edge of the cliff.

“You think you can have ‘honor’ when you’ve robbed people of their families and friends?” he asked. “You think you have ‘justice’ on your side when you’ve drenched your hands in blood? You think you even have the right to live, let alone deserve equality, when you’ve robbed others of theirs?”

“Then tell me,” Adam said in a low, dangerous tone as he stood up. His murderous intent was overflowing, flooding across the open plain like a tsunami. Even then, Sapphire did not back down. “What would you have us do? Let the humans continue to treat us like animals? Let them kill us? Let them do whatever they want with us?”

Sapphire opened his mouth, and it stayed that way without making a sound when he got a good look at Adam’s face. Now that the moonlight had shone on him, the Faunus’s face had become clearer, and without his mask, it was even more so.

On his forehead was a number, left permanently by what looked like a branding iron. A long, thin scar was carved over it, as though trying to cover it up. He had seen a similar number before, on a Faunus corpse back at the mercenary HQ he had left. They had been, as they called them, ‘test subjects’, and they had been serving that purpose long before Sapphire had even joined.

“We’re merely fighting back,” Adam said. “The humans forced our hand, so we fought back. For our own safety, we took up arms. Do you still think we’re not justified in taking their lives?”

“Yes,” Sapphire replied. “I won’t lie and say all humans are saints, but when you take a life from any one of them, you’ve lost the right to preach those ideals, Taurus. Didn’t you guys understand that before the White Fang began? That’s why you stuck to peaceful demonstrations. Where did you go wrong and ended up following the humans’ errors?”

“You humans have never given us a choice,” Adam retorted. “All of my kin had to suffer from the day they were born, simply because they lived. What choice did we have besides fighting back?”

“Choice, huh…” Sapphire mused under his breath. “No wonder she was so worked up. Say, Taurus. Why don’t you come at me? I’ll stand here for three full seconds, and during that time I won’t move or anything. Can you kill me in that period of time?”

“You would mock me further, human?” Adam asked, venom oozing from every word. With a swift draw of his sword, he sprinted forward, lunging at the defenseless man.

But his sword never connected. Inches away from Sapphire, Adam had pulled his sword back in preparation for his attack, and Sapphire responded with a backflip, bringing the tip of his metallic boot to the bottom of Adam’s chin. The resulting impact was so powerful it sent Adam into the air, crashing back onto the edge of the cliff. 

“Like I said,” Sapphire said, pointing Duskfall – in its crossbow form – at Adam. “There’s no such thing as ‘honor’ for killers who’re worse than garbage. Myself included, Taurus.”

“Such a despicable man…” Adam cursed, but he was powerless to do anything; he was drained and Sapphire had the absolute advantage. What else could he do? “Finish it…”

Sapphire held his position, not moving a muscle. Smiling as he remembered the comment he had made earlier about monologues, he opened his mouth.

“You know, I used to think you were like me,” he said. “That like how I was the same to you, you were the proof of my failure; despite losing and killing and losing even more, you found people to protect. You found a place you belonged. I didn’t have that, and even though you killed my comrades, you were still allowed to have it all. I wanted to kill you so bad… I wanted to erase the living proof that my own life was a failure, but I won’t kill you.”

Putting down his weapon, Sapphire disengaged them. Now in their block forms, his weapons did not pose a threat at all. Even though the possibility of traps still remained, his fighting spirit had diminished, causing his eyes to fade into a lighter shade of red, although their colors did not change.

“… Why?” Adam asked, almost sounding furious.

“Why indeed?” Sapphire agreed. “Because I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to fall back into the shadows, to drench my hands with blood anymore. It’s just that. I don’t want to be a killer anymore. Besides,” he added, managing a light smile. “I figured your life was proof that hope existed somewhere, even for people like me, so I’m satisfied with not cutting down that hope. I’ll never forgive you for what you did, but I’ll let you live so I can keep on hoping. Also, if I may add, it’s because ‘we always have a choice’.”

Adam froze. Seeing his expression, Sapphire grinned a little wider and went on.

“You could say I’m here because I chose to believe her words,” he said. “I’m just here because I believed in the words you denied. I believed her words even though you’re the one she’s been with all this time.”

Silence. Against that silence, spurred by a strangely triumphant sensation, Sapphire said:

“There’s always a choice, Taurus. Stop running away from making one.”

“Let me ask you this,” Adam said. “You said you had no intention of killing me. Then for what purpose did you challenge us? For what reason did you risk your lives to battle us, if you did not wish to kill me?”

“I thought that was obvious enough,” the former mercenary replied. “You hurt Winter. You hurt her and made her little sister – our comrade – cry, so we kicked your assess as payback for them. You hurt any one of us, and we’ll move Heaven and Remnant to make you regret it. That’s all.”

Adam said nothing, and instead just looking at Sapphire, confusion evident in his eyes. He opened his mouth, and the question that he proceeded to ask changed everything:

“You, human. What’s your name?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Sapphire said. “You don’t know. It’s Sapphire. Sapphire Fall.”

In an instant, the look in Adam’s eyes changed. Upon hearing those words, all light drained from his eyes, replaced by a dark aura. In those irises, not a speck of hope had remained.

The night air was filled with a violent, deep-throated laughter. It was mirthless, dark and almost inhuman, filled with a strange vibe that felt like something Sapphire knew all too well: Despair.

“So you ‘re her-” Adam muttered, as he finally stopped laughing. However, a vicious smirk still tugged at his lips. “Your words… Those lies… You really are like her…”

“What on Remnant are you talking about?” Sapphire asked, furrowing his brow.

“You humans are all the same in the end,” Adam declared, standing up on wobbly legs. “If you are who you claim to be, then what you seek is not peace; it’s destruction. 

“I won’t yield my life to the likes of you,” he swore, plunging his weapon into his own stomach. 

“Wha-” Sapphire stood there, stunned, as he witnessed the scene before him. The moonlight was faint, but as Adam stepped backwards, staggering towards the edge of the cliff, he thought he saw the Faunus smirk.

“There is no choice,” Adam said at last. “In the end, we always have to fight. Until the moment we lose everything.”

“Wait-”

As Sapphire’s feet finally carried him forward, the darkness had swallowed Adam, pulling him into its eternal embrace as his foot deliberately trod on thin air. By the time Sapphire reached the spot the Faunus had once stood, Adam Taurus had already fallen, disappearing into the roaring waters below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is arguably a Part 3, but this has gone on so long I think it’s safe to end it here. Keep in mind that Yang’s Arc is not over yet, and there is still another fight yet to come. Some of you guys have already called out who the combatants would be before I even reached Weiss’s arc, too.
> 
> Well, see you next chapter!


	15. Red vs. Red

“He’s amusing, isn’t he?”

No reply. Not that he expected one to begin with.

“Well, I don’t care what you do,” Pat sighed. “I have my own contract to carry out, so feel free to do whatever.”

The battle with the White Fang may have been over, but his contract was still ongoing. Even if his client no longer remembered, Patrick Dynes wasn’t the kind of man to do a half-hearted job.

 _Don’t force my hand, Saph,_ he thought.

-

“I see.”

Blake’s tone was flat, and Sapphire could not read her expression well enough, but he let that slide. He just sat there, staring at the sunset without actually seeing anything. As the crimson ball of fire painted the skies with the color of fresh blood, splashing its warm hue over her face in the process, there was nothing but the sound of distant waves, crashing against rock and fading back into the sea. It was an uncomfortable scene, and it was an unbearable atmosphere. But what could he do about it?

“Thanks,” Blake said at last, turning to walk away. 

“Wait,” Sapphire called out, and the raven-haired Faunus paused. “You believe what I say?”

_You really don’t think I killed him?_

“Would you rather I didn’t?” Blake asked. “That lie won’t make me feel better, Sapphire.”

Receiving no reply, Blake walked back towards the villa, where her teammates were. They would be heading back to Beacon tomorrow, so they did not have time for dilly-dallying, especially since they had spent the majority of the day up till now sleeping. Last night almost felt like a dream, or even a nightmare. 

He had not killed Adam, but the man had decided to end his own life. Did his decision have any meaning at all then? Wouldn’t it have been better if he had just-

Shaking those pointless thoughts out of his head, Sapphire sighed. There were bigger problems to deal with, and it was not as if Adam was really dead. Until he saw the corpse, he would not believe that the swordsman had actually left this world – a naïve thought that he would never have entertained before coming to Beacon. 

“Getting too soft, you little prick…” he muttered under his breath. He would have continued his little anger session had it not been for the rustling of the grass behind him. “We’ve all had a bad day. Can we skip the crap and just talk without the sneaking around?”

“Well, sorry about that,” Yang replied, walking out of the forest and towards him. Sapphire had jumped at her voice, having expected it to be Patrick. However, the blonde let that detail slide. “I was just wondering if you liked girls who could stealth on your level.”

“What happened back at the villa?” Sapphire asked, getting straight to the point and rendering Yang speechless. “You lost way too easily for someone of your ability.”

“W-what’re you talking about?” Yang asked. 

“Let me guess,” Sapphire said, sighing as he raised his volume to stop Yang’s excuses. “You were overthinking about Taurus getting to Rose, so you lost it and attacked him without a plan. That sound about right?”

“Yes,” Yang admitted after a short pause.

“Well, at least you’re honest,” Sapphire muttered. “What do you want?”

“What’re you gonna do now?” Yang asked. “You’ve done everything you came to Beacon to do, right? Are you just going to up and leave?”

“You worry about the weirdest things,” Sapphire pointed out. “No wonder you get distracted in battle easily. No, I’m not going to leave just yet; the battle’s not over after all.”

“What do you mean?” Yang asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We still don’t know who helped them out,” Sapphire replied. “The White Fang must’ve had some connections in order to attck the SDC. It’s not over until we get rid of their helpers too.”

“Do you have any leads?”

“No,” Sapphire deadpanned. “I got that Dust shop grandpa – they called ‘im ‘shopkeep’, as I recall – but he’s apparently not helpful at all. So I’m fresh out of ideas.”

“I have an idea,” Yang said. “I know a guy who runs a club somewhere in town. We could ask him.”

“What makes you think a random guy’s going to have that info?” Sapphire asked skeptically. “Besides, aren’t you a little _Yang_ to be going to- sweet lord, did I just make a pun?”

“He’s connected,” Yang replied, completely ignoring the pun. “If you’ve got nothing else to try, it’s worth a shot. I’ll go tell the girls.”

“Hold up,” Sapphire called out just as Yang started to walk off. “Are you sure you’re up for this, blondie? You’re-”

“Yeah, I am,” Yang snapped. “I’m totally cool, so stop asking.”

With that, she walked away, leaving Sapphire to mull over that reaction in silence.

-

“We’re _so_ gonna get reprimanded,” Weiss complained.

Sapphire smirked, but otherwise said nothing. He had not forced anyone to jump out of the helicarrier, and from the looks of it the pilot was the only person surprised by the turn of events. Too bad for him.

While they had been due for Beacon after their little victory, the team ended up taking a little detour by jumping out of the vehicle while it flew over the city. Since the pilot had captured White Fang prisoners on board, he couldn’t just stop to get them just like that. It was the first thing one learned in the ‘being an ass’ book, and it worked flawlessly.

“Well, if we produce results, no one will care,” Blake defended. “Is that the place, Yang?”

“Yeah,” Yang nodded, her voice devoid of her usual humor. It seemed to be happening a lot lately. “I’ll go in via the front.”

“Okay,” Sapphire said, taking charge. “The building’s a rectangular shape, so everyone take a side except the front. I’ll take the front along with blondie. Any questions?”

“Hey, I’m supposed to be leading this team!” Ruby pouted. “I call dibs on the opposite end, though! Not because it’s where they’re most likely to escape from, of course…”

“No one’s escaping, kid,” Sapphire pointed out. “I’m not an amateur. Besides, we’re just gonna ask the guy what he knows. We’re going to avoid a fight if we can help it.”

“Says the guy who started a small war just to get even…” Weiss muttered under her breath.

Sapphire raised his Scroll. Weiss screamed. There was a resounding slap, and the mission began without another word.

-

Sapphire groaned as he stepped into the club with Yang, leaning against the door as he rubbed his stinging cheek. To be completely fair, that picture hadn’t even been taken by him, so there was no reason for him to be slapped. The insults that followed were totally uncalled for too.

“Blondie!” the man behind the counter yelled, rushing towards them with a look of pure rage on his face. At the mention of that one simple word, everyone else stopped what they were doing just to stare at the girl next to Sapphire. All but a pair of girls who retreated into the back room.

 _Aren’t they-?_ Sapphire wondered, before another bit of information caught his attention.

“He called you ‘blondie’,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but I don’t break your nose,” Yang replied.

“Point taken,” Sapphire shrugged, going back to leaning against the door.

“What’re you doing here?!” Junior yelled, edging towards the emergency exit. For someone wearing shades, he was surprisingly easy to read. “Take your little boyfriend and leave before you get hurt.”

“We just want to ask a few questions,” Yang said Sapphire flipped him the bird. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the White Fang-”

She never did get to finish that sentence, what with everyone in the place opening fire with their automated weapons. Dodging the waves of lead with relative ease, Yang and Sapphire dived behind cover. 

“Well, looks like they do,” Yang yelled over the gunfire.

“Gee, what gave you that idea?” Sapphire yelled back, rolling his eyes. “Let’s take ‘em out before he escapes.”

Taking out no less than ten grenades, Sapphire flung them into the incoming crowd of enemies. They weren’t made to kill, but they sure as hell would burn like crazy.

-

Junior panted, practically jumping down the stairs as he attempted to run. He knew that the blondie and her boyfriend could fight, but this was beyond ridiculous.

“Stop!” 

And of course they weren’t alone, either. Just as he thought he was safe from the two monsters inside the building, there was another one outside, clad in red.

“That’s as far as you go,” Ruby declared, brandishing Crescent Rose. “Hmm, that wasn’t as cool as I thought it’d be…”

There was nowhere to run. There wasn’t anywhere to hide, either. Once blondie and the blue-eyed freak caught up to him, he was completely finished. He was out of options, except for fighting this red-cloaked psycho and her ridiculous weapon.

At least, that was what he would have done, if not for his luck at that moment. 

Stumbling upon the scene was a woman in her early twenties, completely unaware of the situation at hand. When she took in the scene of a young girl with a huge scythe approaching a grown man with shades and a gun in his hands, it was too late; with a rough arm holding her in place and a barrel to her temple, Junior had her and Ruby right where he wanted them.

“Back away,” he demanded. “Stay back, and she won’t get hurt.”

Ruby obeyed, taking a few steps backwards as worry began to spread across her face. She had little combat experience as-is, and a hostage situation was way too sudden for someone who was trained to fight monsters.

“Discharge all your Aura,” Junior went on, his eyes darting for the back door he had emerged from moments before. It wouldn’t be long before blondie and blue-eye caught up, so he had to make this quick. “And drop your weapon.”

Hesitating for a brief moment, Ruby was spurred into action by the woman’s sobs, placing Crescent Rose onto the ground and removing the one thing protecting her from harm. It was the first time in a long while since she’d been so vulnerable, and-

“Ruby!” Yang exclaimed, surprised to see her sister as she dashed out of the door. “Where’s-”

Sharp gunshots pierced the air, leaving a reverberating silence in their wake. Eyes wide with shock and confusion, Ruby Rose tumbled across the asphalt and lay flat on her back. Fresh red poured across the ground, staining the otherwise grey surface with its pulsating hue. But where was it all coming from?

Yang stared. Even though she understood perfectly what had just transpired, she just stared. Ruby wasn’t moving, and there was blood pouring out of her, pooling around her as every second continued to crawl by. Something was wrong, and she knew very well who was responsible.

In an instant, her paralyzing fear warped into something white-hot. It swelled and roared, engulfing her consciousness in its violent grip. She did not know what it was, but she no longer cared; all she did was give in to that unknown force, letting the fiery sensation fill every cell in her body.

The last thing she remembered was Junior’s terrified expression.

-

Sapphire arrived at the scene far too late. When he finally stepped out of the building, the city before him had changed drastically, into something almost unrecognizable. And amongst that smoldering destruction, was Yang.

She was roaring, maybe screaming, as she relentlessly pounded something underneath her. Whatever it was, it was not putting up a fight, instead just laying still as she brought her fist down on it over and over and over again.

“Sapphire-” Blake stopped in the middle of her sentence, her mouth agape as she began to absorb the scene. Weiss arrived shortly after from the opposite direction, going completely pale at the sight of Ruby in a pool of her own blood.

“Blondie,” Sapphire said, grabbing Yang’s hand before she could land another blow on what appeared to be Junior. He was still breathing, which was arguably unfortunate for him. “That’s enou-”

With an angry roar, Yang swung her arm and flung Sapphire into a nearby building, cracking the concrete as he made contact with the wall. 

“Son of a…” he cursed, getting to his feet. Just as he was thinking of formulating a plan, Blake flew past him and through the same wall he had hit, creating a gaping hole in it. “Blake? You alive?”

Blake groaned, but did not get up. Judging from the light bleeding in her forehead, her life was not in danger, but she was not likely going to be joining the battle anytime soon.

 _I hope you’re here, Pat,_ Sapphire thought to himself as he pulled himself out of the rubble.

“Schn- Weiss,” he called out, keeping his eye on Yang, who was slowly approaching him with a pair of glowing red eyes. “I need you to treat Rose and wake her up. Blondie needs her voice right now or she’s gonna lose it. Even more than she is right now, anyway.”

Of course, that was just a guess. But putting together all the evidence he had when he arrived, it was the best plan Sapphire could come up with. Improvisation wasn’t his forte, but he could manage if it was just a brawl.

“I’ll buy you five- no, ten minutes,” he said, as Yang leapt towards him. He could feel her Aura burning even at such a distance. The chick was dead serious. “Don’t do this, blondie…”

She was close. She did not look like she had the slightest inclination to stop, either.

“Don’t do this,” he whispered. “C’mon… Yang!”

A large explosion sounded, its shockwave sending up a strong gust of wind as it blocked out the rest of Sapphire’s words. It had been just a regular shotgun shot, but the force behind the punch that fired it was tremendous. Catching said punch with one hand and sporting eyes of a similar scarlet glow, Sapphire met Yang’s murderous gaze.

“You’ve got ten minutes, Weiss,” he repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it was a little too fast paced, but I really wanted to get to this part of the story. And yes, this is the other main battle for Yang’s Arc. Yes, you read it right: it's Sapphire vs Yang. Till next chapter!


	16. Sun-Lit Rain Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to chapter 44 (Overall, and yes, I can’t believe it made it so far either). Pretty much time to wrap up the arc, so here we go!

A gentle breeze caressed Pat’s hair, making it flow and dance like blades of grass in a field. It looked strangely alive and out of place, considering how the rest of him was completely still like a statue.

He had not taken up the prone position in years, but then again, Sapphire had made him do a lot of things he had stopped doing since retirement lately. And he wasn’t even paying extra. The little pri-

“You must be the one they call Goodwitch,” he said suddenly, not moving his eyes from the scope on his sniper rifle.

Goodwitch, who had been approaching stealthily, stopped in her tracks. If anything, she was impressed.

“Patrick Dynes?” she asked.

“I prefer my real name,” Pat replied offhandedly. “It’s Faminesh Ulkarina Calvinio Kellingsburg Yurgunstott Olfmann Uranus the sixth, but the way. Try it. Or you can give it an acronym and-”

“Yes,” Goodwitch cut across him impatiently. “I’m well aware of your… juvenile inclinations when it comes to making jokes.”

“Good for you,” Pat said sarcastically. “So what’re you here for?”

“I’m here to protect my students,” Goodwitch replied firmly.

“He ain’t your student,” Pat countered.

“Is he not your friend?” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Pat replied. “We may be on speaking terms, but we’re no BFFs. Even if we were, if my client wants him dead, he dies. It’s that simple.”

“And who might this ‘client’ of yours be?” Goodwitch asked, reaching for her crop. However, her hands just stopped short after that, upon hearing his reply:

“You’re looking at him.”

-

Sapphire audibly swore, spitting out stray pieces of concrete that had found their way into his mouth. Forcing himself out of the rubble, he prepared himself for another round when a hand grabbed his wrist. 

“Hold on,” Blake muttered, dragging herself to her feet. Her head was still bleeding, although it seemed a little better than before. “I’m coming with you.”

“The injured should rest,” Sapphire advised. Speaking without looking at the Faunus. 

“I don’t want to hear that from you,” Blake retorted.

“Oh, this? This is for show,” Sapphire said, referring to the bandages wrapped around here and there on his body. “You got any experience with this?”

“With her Semblance, yes,” Blake replied. “With her so out of control, no.”

Yang, completely unaware of what they were talking about, just stood there and stared, her body trembling with raw fury. She was no longer in control – a state that Sapphire knew all too well.

_Did I look like that back then?_

“Do you have a plan?” Blake asked, snapping him out of his semi-trance.

“Let me get in close,” Sappihire replied. “I got six tranquilizer arrows loaded, three in each arm. If I can hit her with just one, it’ll knock her out cold.”

“I’ll be the decoy,” Blake suggested. She knew as well as Sapphire did by now that the two of them were horrible with tag-teaming, and being heavily injured did not improve their chances. “Get that shot in before I go flying.”

“Meow,” Sapphire replied, managing a small nod.

Smacking him on the head, Blake took off, but Yang was faster; before Blake had even run five steps, Yang was in her face, sinking her fist into the Faunus’s chest.

The gunshot masked the sound of cracked ribs, but Sapphire knew that even with Aura, Blake was not escaping that one unscathed. Switching his weapons to crossbow form, he leapt in, raising his right fist for a punch.

The arrow flew out as he punched, flying straight for Yang’s thigh. However, before it could connect, it disintegrated as Yang’s fist smashed against it without mercy.

“Fu-”

Before the word even left his mouth, Sapphire felt his hand explode with pain. Having sent Blake flying, Yang had closed in on him, breaking Duskfall with a powerful punch as it proceeded to break his fingers as well.

Firing the guns mounted on his legs to push Yang back, Sapphire retreated, keeping a fair distance between them as he checked the damage.

For one thing, his weapon was done for. Foldable weapons like his and Rose’s scythe were convenient and all, but they had to be made with multiple small, moveable parts. It made them far more brittle on the whole as compared to Yang’s gauntlets, Blake’s sword or Weiss’s rapier, and even when they didn’t break they could easily be disabled by knocking just one part loose. That was why Sapphire modified Daybreak and Duskfall to be sturdier in their bladed forms, as well as why he tended to stay away from using them for defense. 

Now, more than half of Duskfall was utterly destroyed and scattered all over the ground, with whatever was left clinging uselessly to his right arm. To top it off, his entire right hand was a bloody mess, bent and twisted here and there in odd angles.

Granted, if it hadn’t been for his Semblance strengthening his body, he would have lost his right hand from the wrist down. But Sapphire’s concern lay elsewhere: now that his weapon was shattered, he had lose three of his six tranquilizer arrows. That left three shots remaining, and given what had transpired thus far, he did not like his odds.

Ducking under the incoming hook, Sapphire attempted to somersault backwards. Due to using just one hand, however, he ended up slamming his face against the ground. Immediately rolling to the side, he narrowly managed to evade the next blow, which opened a hole in the ground and sent up a shockwave powerful enough to knock him away.

Recovering just swiftly enough to react to Yang’s sprint, Sapphire sidestepped her punch and retaliated with a roundhouse kick, sending the blonde flying. It kept her away, but the damage was negligible.

The more damage either of them took, the stronger they became. While Sapphire was well aware that enough damage could knock Yang out cold, he was unsure of the consequences of building up that damage. 

But if he did not, how was he going to fight?

-

Patrick tensed up.

“What’s wrong?” Goodwitch asked, fingers wrapped around her crop. 

“I’m taking the shot the moment Saph goes Genocide,” he replied. “You can try to kill me before that, but all five of them will die that way. Not to mention all the collateral damage.”

“What do you mean?” 

“What, Ozzy didn’t tell you?” Pat snorted. “Just like how blondie’s Semblance can’t increase her power indefinitely, Saph’s has a limit. He exceeds that limit, he dies. Even if he doesn’t, as long as it rises beyond Lifesaver’s limits, Lifesaver will remove its safety switches and release his full Semblance, which turns him into a murderous psychopath. And before you talk about self-control,” he added. “I think blondie losing it right now’s a pretty good demonstration of what happens when their Semblance goes berserk.”

“Have you seen him in Genocide Mode before?” Goodwitch asked.

“Yes,” Pat replied after a long pause. “In video, but yes. All I can say is, you won’t recognize him when that happens.”

_Or whatever’s left of those girls, for that matter._

Adjusting the scope slowly and gently, Pat bit back on the last words and rested his fingers on the trigger.

-

“Come on, Ruby…”

Ignoring Weiss’s voice, Ruby lay where she was, not moving a muscle. She was still breathing, but it was unclear if she would be waking up anytime soon. 

Blake was out cold, Ruby was dying, and Yang and Sapphire were attempting to kill each other. Could the situation get any worse?

Right on cue, a small crowd of people arrived. It would not have mattered much if they were regular passers-by, but they were not; they were carrying weapons as they ran towards her, fingers on the triggers.

“Wait here,” the heiress said softly, drawing Myrtenaster and facing the incoming charge alone. There were no less than fifty of them, and they were all armed to the teeth. “I’ll be right back.”

-

Sapphire tried moving his broken hand again. No response. How was he going to choke her to death with just one hand?

 _Dammit,_ he cursed inside his head. _I’m losing it._  
He would have wanted Pat to be here, ready to kill him the moment he lost control, but the man in question had ignored all his calls. He had no idea where he was now, but there was little doubt that Sapphire would have to deal with this by himself. 

If he activated Genocide Mode, he could kill Yang no matter how much stronger she became. Right now, however, while he was indeed the stronger and faster of the two, his movements were sluggish due to the pain and stress on his body. Furthermore, he could not knock Yang out with just one blow in his current state, which meant that he’d just be increasing her stren-

Cutting sharply into his thoughts was Yang’s fist, moving with enough force to crush tank armor. Pivoting his weight on his right foot, Sapphire rotated his body in an anti-clockwise manner, letting the punch barely scratch his cheek in the process. With the blow evaded, Sapphire tugged at her arm with his good hand, causing Yang to lose her balance and topple forward.

Before Yang could recover from her loss of balance, Sapphire sank his fist into her gut, firing off a tranq arrow. Just as he thought he had done it, however, the back of Yang’s fist slammed mercilessly against his jaw.

Stamping his foot on the ground hard, Sapphire let loose a Dust grenade, causing a huge burst of light, heat and sound to erupt between them. Diving away from the blonde and quickly getting to his feet, Sapphire spat out a mouthful of blood.

Her Aura must have gotten in his way. The tranq arrow was made to pierce Aura, but Yang’s must have flared up too much for that to be effective. He would have to reduce it first.

“I’m so gonna shave your head after this, Yang,” he muttered.

As the dust cloud began to settle, an acrid, continuous applause could be heard. Descending upon the earth like an endless barrage of bullets, each individual drop of rain burst against the callous ground like an ominous, disembodied clapping of hands. It did disperse the dust cloud, but it also hindered his vision.

Even so, her form was clear like a roaring flame.

Her hair was practically a mane of fire, and her eyes two rubies of pulsating magma. Her appearance and Aura, unblemished by the rain, flared against the heartless cold, its heat almost reaching him. 

Sapphire paused. Instead of charging in like he had previously intended to, he just stood there. It might have been instinct, or just simply a reflex after his training as a mercenary. 

This was clearly different from the battle with Blake, where his confusion had deterred him from going all out. This was different from the fight against Mercury, where he knew he had a chance of victory despite being inferior. This was different even from the confrontation with Adam, where the opponent was leagues above him in terms of combat prowess.

This was an opponent he could not and did not want to beat at the same time.

“Lifesaver,” he ordered, receiving a soft click in response. “Remove limiter.”

[Please input the designated phrase to continue.]

In the face of his declaration, Lifesaver replied with a simple verbal prompt. While he knew the phrase needed to enter Genocide Mode, Sapphire refused to say it. That one phrase – with the words that burned like acid on his tongue – was something that had first flung him into despair. It was the defining moment of his suffering, and ultimately the very source of his present way of life. How could he possibly say those words?

“Help me, sis,” he whispered, that desperate prayer instantly dissolving into the rain as he leapt forward.

The pain was dulled, and the cold was barely registering on his skin, making him seemingly unable to feel those sensations. The whole world moved in slow motion, and even sound was low and booming as he closed the distance, advancing on Yang while the latter seemed to freeze where she stood.

At least, until she started moving.

Even with his enhanced senses, with the world slow as it was, Sapphire was not able to slow Yang down. Granted, she was not moving as fast as he was, but it was a far cry from any kind of speed he had witnessed while in Combat Mode before.

“Still too slow,” he mocked, sinking his fist into Yang’s face. 

Yang was sent flying, or she would have been if not for Sapphire grabbing her leg and slamming her onto the ground, creating a small crater in the process.

Without giving her the time to recover, Sapphire brought down his foot to stamp down on her chest, only to be stopped by her hands. With an enraged roar, the blonde brawler flung his foot to the side, tripping him in the process. However, instead of letting her counterattack, Sapphire twisted his body to the side and smashed his left elbow into Yang’s neck.

Warm blood splashed onto his face as Yang coughed hard – a sign that he was actually damaging her, and a split second later a rough fist propelled him away from her like a cannonball fired from its cannon. Landing on the ground without much effort, Sapphire drew a deep breath and exhaled.

Screw the tranq arrow. He was going to choke the life out of this woman instead.

-

“Uh…”

Weakly getting up, Ruby winced. Her whole body stung so badly it didn’t even feel like her body anymore, and the heavy rain was not helping. Just as she began to inspect her wounds, she froze.

First she noticed Blake, lying amongst the rubble without moving a muscle. Blood was seeping from her head and other wounds, and it was unclear if she was unconscious or…

Then she saw Weiss. Bleeding and with her prized clothing ripped here and there, the proud heiress was holding off a wave of incoming enemies, each and every one of them fully armed and dangerous. Would she be able to defend herself like this?

And then she saw them. At first, she did not even recognize them, but they were faces she had become familiar with after all this time. 

And yet, she could not recognize their faces anymore.

Those were the faces of pure rage and intense hostility. Those were the expressions of people who, despite their best efforts, had failed to suppress their own overflowing emotions. Those were the eyes of children who had lost to their own emotions, and had now become slaves to their sorrow and rage. Even with their overflowing murderous intent, all she could see reflected in their irises was a profoundly etched anguish.

All she could do as she looked at them, was tremble. It was neither from the cold, nor from terror; it was from the deeply-rooted pain in the center of her chest, forcing out warm trails of liquid from the corner of her eyes.

Right before her eyes, Yang Xiao Long and Sapphire Fall clashed, their Auras flaring with a ferocity that the cryogenic rain could never extinguish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will be working on part 2 right away, along with Walk Among the Beasts (lord, that one needs an update…). Again, sorry for the late updates; now that I’m outta the hospital, I’ll be able to continue my writing! Sorry for the wait, fellas!


	17. Sun-lit Rain Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to part 2, and the second last part of Yang’s Arc. Whew. It took a total of 45 chapters, but here we are!
> 
> One thing to note: I had Sapphire come very close this time, but he’s not actually in Genocide Mode yet. I didn’t want to break my own rules, which in this case would be the fact that Sapphire would pretty much face death if he used Genocide Mode. I couldn’t let him go there now, given what was at stake and all. And I didn’t want to kill Yang. Meh.
> 
> Anyway, moving on!

Blake awoke to the sound of distant clapping and a terrible cold, wet sensation on her skin. Before she could even complain mentally about how horrible it felt, the searing pain returned, instantly reminding her of her current predicament.

The clapping identified itself as a raging cloudburst, and the cold a shroud of rainwater clinging to her clothes. She did not know for how long she had been out, but the world around her had changed drastically.

The streets were now wider – likely due to the buildings being run into the ground – and small craters littered them. Only two figures remained standing, with one of them practically emanating light and heat amidst the grey downpour.

Panting heavily as she glared holes into her foe, Yang Xiao Long wiped away the trail of blood from her mouth. Other than a few bruises here and there on her exposed skin, she just seemed tired. Her opponent, on the other hand, was another matter.

Sporting several cuts and awful bruises everywhere, with tears even in his clothes, was Sapphire. Sporting a horrible bloodied mess where his right hand was supposed to be, the former mercenary was twitching oddly as he stared down his opponent. Despite not standing out in the face of Yang’s overwhelming presence, the aura and killing intent he gave off was far more potent and eclipsed Yang’s completely.

Just from the twitching alone, Blake had a rough idea how much pain he was experiencing now. There was one time – just that once – where Adam had to continue fighting while supporting a near-fatal wound, and his body had involuntarily twitched like that. But had only twitched a little.

Sapphire was twitching _a lot._

Not that he seemed to care; with an expression on borderline insanity, the deranged look in his eyes sent chills down Blake’s eyes and made her hairs stand on end. She was sure Yang and Sapphire could make some bad jokes or puns about that, but both brawlers in question were currently seething with bloodlust.

Mind blank and terrified, Blake just froze, unable to do or say anything. There was nothing she could do; she could neither stop them nor come up with ideas on what should be done. 

_When that happens, kill me._

Sapphire’s voice echoed faintly in her head, eloquent despite the roaring rain. His face, wearing a serious but sorrowful expression, slowly swam into view as Blake recalled their conversation before the Schnee villa mission.

_When I lose it, there’s gonna be no room for negotiation and there’ll be no appealing to my humanity. No one’s gonna step in and do it for you, so if you don’t step up, everyone will die. You’re the only one I can ask to do this, so please. Don’t hesitate._

_And cut me down where I stand._

With a firm grip on Gambol Shroud, Blake stepped towards Sapphire with slow, uneven steps. She was severely injured, but even more than that, she was overwhelmed by a distinct sense of dread.

It wasn’t so much of being afraid; sure, Sapphire was a dangerous element now, but in truth, he was giving off the same vibe as he had in the beginning, when he had threatened to kill Blake on the roof – that of a Grimm, swallowed up by hostility and rage. If anything, he looked utterly pitiful.

No; her dread came from her reluctance to kill him. There was never a good reason to take someone’s life, and it was even more so when it was someone whom she knew. He had done no wrong, and had committed no crime; he had merely lost to his own emotions. Was that a just cause to end his very life?

[Warning.]

Stopping Blake dead in her tracks, Lifesaver spoke up with an unfeeling, uncaring preprogrammed voice.

[Detection of Aura Levels approaching the limits of safety restraints. Further augmentation will result in the release of all restraining mechanisms, activating Genocide Mode. Please terminate activation of Combat Mode immediately and abstain from further usage.]

Unable to register the meaning of those words, Sapphire and Yang clashed, throwing brutal punches at the other’s face. Possessing superior speed, Sapphire evaded Yang’s blow, ducking under it and landing an uppercut to her chin, launching the blonde into the air.

[Alternatively, terminate life support to avoid further collateral damage.]

Unaffected by the cascading flood of rain, Blake’s blood ran cold.

-

Pat swore under his breath. 

“You’re not helping,” he hissed, gesturing towards the remains of his sniper rifle. 

“That was never my intention,” Goodwitch replied calmly.

“So you wanna see your girls turn into mincemeat,” he spat. “And let him melt into a puddle?”

“It is my belief that they will pull through this as a team,” Goodwitch said. “And they most certainly will.”

“Poetic, but that’s total bull-” Pat swore, before something red caught his eye. Something red was limping towards Sapphire, and it was very familiar. “What the fu-”

It was fortunate that he did not turn around, or he would have seen the triumphant smirk on Goodwitch’s face.

-

“Ruby!”

Having been unable to stop her leader, Blake yelled out her name in a futile attempt to stop her. Trying to catch up to her by running instead, the Faunus lost her balance and fell, staying on her knees as she watched.

“Wait! Stop!” Ruby begged, wrapping her arms around Sapphire’s waist, possibly in an attempt to immobilize him. “That’s Yang, Saph! She’s my sister and our teammate, remember?”

“Ruby, get away from him!” Blake yelled. “He’s not in his right state of mind right now! He can’t hear you!”

“He will!”

Those words, devoid of strength in volume, held enough conviction to shut Blake up. What was it about this situation that led to Ruby having faith in Sapphire was completely unclear to her. 

Sapphire, on the other hand, was in pain. Being held by Ruby must have touched a bad bruise, given his lack of tearing her apart. Instead, he just stood there trembling, possibly from enduring the pain but more likely from rage.

“Don’t do this, Sapphire,” Ruby tried again. “You’re better than this. You’re stronger than this. Don’t lose.”

With a pained shriek, Sapphire struck the ground with his battered right hand. Damaged as it was, said broken hand still managed to punch a hole through the ground – which was made of solid concrete.

“Run…”

“Ruby!” Blake yelled. Lifting Gambol Shroud, she took aim, ready to fling it at Sapphire at any moment. The rain was a problem, but it wasn’t going to stop her from slashing his neck at this distance.

But it was too late. Spinning around and grabbing Ruby by her neck, Sapphire lifted the tiny girl off her feet and into the air, letting her boots dangle helplessly as she struggled. He said nothing, merely watching her in agony as he proceeded to choke the life out of her. To top it off, Ruby had become his shield from Blake, preventing the Faunus from doing anything but watch as he killed her leader.

“Ruby!” she screamed, not that it did her any good.

“Run…”

Even though his face was already wet from the rain, Ruby could tell that something else was mixed in, flowing down Sapphire’s face. Unlike the rain, it was warm and excruciating, and it twisted the expression on the boy’s face.

“Fight it, Saph…” Ruby whimpered, unable to pry his fingers loose. “You’re stronger… than this…”

Nothing happened. Sapphire merely tightened his grip, until-

-he let her go. Loosening his hold and setting Ruby on her feet, Sapphire remained silent. Eyes still a dangerous pulsing red, he stared at her, expressionless.

“You really are an idiot, Rose,” he managed, removing his fingers from her throat. “What would you have done if I wasn’t able to fight it?”

“But you did, right?” Ruby asked with a feeble smile.

“… We need to talk after this is over,” Sapphire sighed, but he was smiling too. “Hey, kitty cat! You still alive?”

Blake did not give him a verbal reply. Instead, she stayed where she was for a few seconds, then got up, walked over to him, and slapped Sapphire squarely across the cheek.

“Glad to see you too,” Sapphire grumbled.

“You do that again, and I’ll skin you,” Blake seethed.

“Alright, alright. What’s rustled your-”

“Complete that sentence, and I’ll cut your tongue off. Make a comment about cats and tongues, and I’ll turn you into a woman.”

Sapphire instantly mimed zipping his mouth shut.

“So what’re we going to do?” Ruby asked.

“She’s taken heavy damage,” Sapphire noted, after unzipping his mouth. “She’s resting really long, so I assume my arrows can do their job now.”

“Maybe you’ve already knocked her unconscious-” Blake began.

Right on cue, a helicarrier spiraled into them, forcing them to disperse. Blake managed to escape, while Sapphire grabbed Ruby, shielding her from the propeller blades with his back in the process. 

“You were saying?” he asked.

“Never mind,” Blake replied. “You need me to stall her long enough to get close, right?”

“Yeah,” Sapphire nodded. “Lifesaver. Neutral.”

Lifesaver hissed in response, and Sapphire immediately fell to his knees.

“Okay, scratch that,” he panted. “We only have one shot at this. Rose, you stay here and lick your wounds – hey, that wasn’t directed at you; please don’t kill me – and don’t move. Your wounds are bad. Too. Don’t try,” he added, as Ruby opened her mouth to protest.

“Fine,” she pouted, as Blake lowered her blade from Sapphire’s face.

Blake and Sapphire readied their weapons, turning to face the approaching ball of fire that was Yang Xiao Long. Compared to before, when she was in a frenzied state, she was far less aggressive. Not that she was in any way less dangerous now.

“Left gauntlet,” both Sapphire and Blake suggested at the same time. 

“Copycat,” Sapphire muttered, still looking straight at Yang while addressing the Faunus.

“Do you want sunflowers or daisies on your grave?” Blake asked, also not turning away from her partner.

Sapphire smirked, but he still charged in regardless. With his speed and power severely reduced, he was no match for Yang, but he was more agile now.

Scarlet irises met, and Yang met his charge. Just before she could clobber him senseless, however, Sapphire jerked his head to the side, and Gambol Shroud slashed through the air, heading straight for Yang’s face.

Yang instantly deflected the weapon, only to have an arrow dig into her shoulder. Having been fired from a blind spot after Gambol Shroud, Sapphire’s projectile pierced her skin undetected due to its lack of gunpowder usage – a sign that his tranq arrows would work too.

With an empowered roar, Yang slammed her fist into Sapphire’s face. Dodging it by a hair’s breadth, Sapphire let his right shoulder take the blow instead, causing a rather sharp and unnerving ‘crack’ to resonate across his ear.

Tumbling away as he was carried by the force, Sapphire hastily got to his feet, seemingly unfazed.

“Does it work?” Blake asked, holding Gambol Shroud in her hands.

“Yeah,” Sapphire panted. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You’re not planning to take another blow to pull it off, right?” Blake asked.

“No,” Sapphire lied badly, dragging out the syllable. “Okay, fine; I was going to. What of it?”

“Don’t you dare-”

Before Blake could finish, Yang leapt in, punching a hole through the ground between them. Without reaffirming their approach, Sapphire and Blake separated, keeping Yang in the middle.

Then Sapphire closed in. Aiming a stab at Yang’s face, he pulled back at the last second and jumped back, avoiding Yang’s retaliating blow. Rather than reacting to her faster moves, he chose to predict her simple thought processes instead. Stepping in swiftly during the opening, Sapphire crouched down and performed a leg sweep, avoiding the backhand swing and tripping Yang in the process. While Yang was still in mid-air, he continued his sweeping motion, spinning a whole circle before kicking Yang in the waist.

The result was far worse than expected; instead of being sent flying, Yang merely fell slightly to the side, as though swayed by a strong gust of wind. Without caring about the details, Sapphire closed in, switching his weapon back into its crossbow form.

Pulling back at the last second again, Sapphire evaded the fired shotgun shells as they pierced the air where his head had been moments before. Putting some distance between them, he paused.

He only had one shot, and he was perfectly aware of it. Should he fail, he would get hit and die. Blake might have had the same idea of ‘left gauntlet’, but without a proper discussion beforehand, Sapphire had no way of knowing if they could pull this off. Had she even been thinking of the same thing he was?

 _If I’m wrong, I’m so haunting you, furball,_ he thought. _But then again, she doesn’t have fur-_

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden spray of shotgun shells, and his delayed reaction led to some of them scraping past his cheek. For a supposedly berserk woman without control, Yang had surprisingly good aim. Not that it mattered, since her significantly slowed movements were proof that she too was nearing the end of her rope.

Sapphire was becoming increasingly blurry, even though the rain was actually starting to get lighter. He could barely keep his balance while standing and his thoughts were an utter mess. He would have just lay down and slept for a good seven thousand millennia, if not for the murderous brawler in front of him.

Without thinking, he charged. Pouring all the energy he had and even more into his legs, Sapphire rushed towards Yang with a burst of speed that was not spectacular, but impressive nonetheless. 

Every cell in his body screamed, and every single nerve caught fire simultaneously, drowning him in the pain. Sinking deeper and deeper with each step, Sapphire, too, screamed, turning his pain into an empowered battle cry.

Yang, being no sitting duck, met his charge. Once they became close enough to land punches, Sapphire ducked to his left, readying his only remaining crossbow for a shot to her neck. Yang, with ample time to react, swung her left fist towards Sapphire’s skull-

And was stopped.

As though appearing out of thin air, Gambol Shroud spun towards Yang, piercing into her left gauntlet and jamming its firing mechanism. Blake, having struck her target, pulled hard on the ribbon, restraining the movement of Yang’s left arm.

Yang’s right hand would not make it on time. To counter an opponent’s left hook this close in, her own left fist was needed. Her right would be far too awkward for a proper counter, and Sapphire would have struck first. Which he did.

“Left gauntlet,” he muttered, resting his knuckles against Yang’s shoulder and firing a tranq arrow. And another. And another.

Yang’s right fist still continued on its path, striking Sapphire on his left shoulder before falling weakly to her side. The raging fire that had been her hair faded, leaving a damp shade of yellow in its wake. Her blazing red irises began to lose their light, but before they could fade back to lilac, Yang had already hidden them behind her closed eyelids.

Completely powerless and out cold, Yang fell forward, slumping over Sapphire with her chin on his shoulder. Instead of saying anything, Sapphire just heaved a long, drawn-out sigh, letting his left hand dangle lifelessly by his side. 

“Time to go home, Yang,” he said.

As though trying to clarify his words, the rain finally let up, filling the space with gentle warmth. The haunting cold began to dissipate slowly, replaced by the distant heat from the sun peeking through the clouds. Even though it had not been that long ago, there was still a vague sense of nostalgia in the brilliant light that embraced the world around them.

“Time to go home,” he repeated.


	18. Sun-Lit Rain Pt. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to the last part of Yang’s Arc! We’re coming close to the end of the series at this point, so brace yourself!

Darkness. Stretching outward infinitely, the pitch-black void filled his vision, drowning out any and all light. Nothing could be seen, nothing could be heard, and nothing could be felt.

The only thing that existed in this desolate world was a faint fragrance, tickling the tip of his nose as it wafted by ever so gently, filling his nostrils with the smell of lavender. It was familiar, and it reminded him of someone’s perfume. He might have smelled it during all his time in Beacon’s infirmary.

 _Ah, yes,_ he thought. _The same smell as the air refreshers they put in toilets._

Slowly and gradually, he opened his eyes. The darkness parted and made way for a pristine white ceiling, and a slight ‘beep’-ing sound greeted his ears.

Then the pain registered. The awful, nerve-igniting, bone-crushing, skin-tearing pain. Without caring about where he was, Sapphire swore out loud, making sure to cover his entire vocabulary in the process. 

“I see your eloquence has not waned,” a rather bemused voice said. “Though I must question the necessity of such words in the presence of ladies.”

Turning his head (with considerable effort), Sapphire saw Ozpin standing a short distance from the edge of his bed, a mug of some unknown concoction in one hand and his cane in another.

“Where am-” he began.

“Beacon’s infirmary,” the collective voices of Ruby, Weiss and Blake replied immediately, followed by a series of pain-induced groans. 

“Everyone asked the same thing when they first woke up,” Blake explained, somewhere to his left.

“You have been out for five days,” Ozpin added. “Your body was a total mess that gave the school nurse quite a fright, you know. And that is saying a lot.”

“Good for her,” Sapphire replied, groaning. “Did she put stakes through every pore she could find?”

“Not quite,” Ozpin measured out an inch of a smile in response to his question. “She did, however, run out of anesthesia after treating the girls of Team RWBY, which would explain your current state of… Discomfort.”

“Wait a minute,” Sapphire said, as though he had just realized something. “How did I piss or take a dump in those five days?”

Ozpin actually chuckled at that. Somewhere else in the room, the girls groaned, with Weiss expressing her displeasure the most audibly. 

“Now, then,” Ozpin said, raising his volume a little. “Since you are all awake, I shall proceed with the debrief.”

“What, you mean taking off your underwear?” Sapphire asked.

“Sapphire Fall!” Weiss exclaimed, her voice mixed with shock and anger before switching to a pained groan again.

“While I am glad for the lively mood,” Ozpin went on, the slightest of smiles tugging at the edge of his lips. “I must inform you that unfortunately, I must subject you all to disciplinary action.”

“The fu-?” Sapphire hastily stopped himself. “Why? The mission was a success!”

“I will not dispute that you all have performed admirably, and that you have successfully repelled the White Fang,” Ozpin nodded. “However, the terms stated were for a victory _without any casualties from any of you._ ”

“But the injuries were from a separate mission after that!” Sapphire exclaimed, before remembering that he had been wounded during the fight with Adam, as had Blake and Yang.

Ozpin merely shrugged and gave him a queer look, leaving it free for him to interpret as he wished. Had his body not been in so much pain, Sapphire would have dearly loved to make a rude hand gesture at his face.

“I’m sure Miss Xiao Long will be most distressed to know that Professor Goodwitch will be in charge of your discipline,” Ozpin went on. “She is the only one who has experienced the ‘special treatment’ after all.”

A collective groan emerged from the rest of the team, followed by copious amounts of swearing by Sapphire.

“I swear, Fall,” Winter’s voice came from somewhere further off in the room. “You utter one more profanity, and I will make sure you die in the most painful way possible.”

“Why are you here?” Sapphire asked, not even bothering to turn his neck. “You’re already past the age for even marriage; I think school is way too late for you, woman.”

“Wha- I- You-” Winter stammered, her voice filled with anger and embarrassment. 

“Who, me?” Sapphire asked, clearly enjoying himself. “No thanks. I’m not really into old ladies, see. I don’t think anyone is, actually, since you’ve already reached meno-”

“Sapphire Fall!” Winter, Weiss and Blake exclaimed at the same time.

“Stop saying my name in unison!”

“Well then, I shall leave you to it,” Ozpin chuckled, heading for the door, possibly so that he would not need to bear witness to the boy’s gruesome demise. “But in closing, I will say this: Well done on making it back.”

Without another word, the enigma of a man left the room.

-

The evening sun cast its glow over the room, bathing it in a warm, vermilion light. It was comforting for the most part, but Sapphire found it difficult to relax when he could not move. Besides, there was a problem floating around in his head that was impossible to ignore right now.

Ever since he woke up, Yang had not said a word, even when there were many opportunities for her to. Despite being Yang – loud, boisterous Yang – she had been completely quiet ever since the mission ended.

“Hey, Saph…”

Right on cue, Yang’s voice cut into his thoughts. It still took him a moment to register her words, probably because they sounded nothing like her – completely devoid of confidence and cheekiness.

“Mm-hmm?”

“Does it… hurt?”

So that was it. Rolling his eyes with a barely audible sigh, Sapphire contemplated his response.

“Yeah, I’m dying all over,” he eventually replied. “I can’t feel my right hand, though, which is odd since I didn’t get any anesthesia…”

“Oh,” Yang muttered. “So I… Did that…”

“If you’re going to apologize, save your breath,” Sapphire cut across her exasperatedly. “First off, it’d be creepy for you to be mopey. Second, this is nothing; you should’ve seen Blake crying like a baby-”

“Wanna lose the other hand?” a certain Faunus asked.

“Third,” Sapphire continued hastily. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for, so don’t bother. No one’s blaming you for anything, so please stop dampening the mood and laugh already. Rose! Back me up.”

“H-huh?” Ruby asked, completely caught off-guard by the sudden request. “U-um… Yeah! What he said! Um… You gotta Yang in there, coz you’re Yang, right?”

It was so quiet that Sapphire could swear there were crickets chirping in the room. He had heard Yang’s bad puns before, but this was something else.

“C-come on, say something!” Ruby pleaded. “Help me out, guys!”

“Uh…” Blake went silent for a bit, possibly thinking of some terrible pun. “We gotta start the day… I mean, end the day with a Yang, right?”

“Wow, that was terrible,” Sapphire stated bluntly. 

“Why don’t _you_ try?” Blake and Ruby countered at the same time.

“No; screw this sh-” Sapphire began, then sensed Blake’s surge in killing intent. The woman was a force of nature, in a separate way from Yang. “Uh… You should smile because… it’s a… Yangderful thing to do?”

“That didn’t even make sense,” Blake complained.

“I don’t get it,” Ruby mumbled.

“Eh, good enough,” Winter commented. “For the size of his brain, it’s actually pretty amazing.”

“Why don’t _you_ try?” Sapphire snapped, mimicking Blake. 

“I’m above these terrible jokes,” Winter scoffed. 

“Not in height you’re not,” Sapphire countered. “Oh wait; not in intelligence either.”

“You know what, Fall?” 

“No, I don’t,” Sapphire immediately said. “I don’t speak or think Granny.”

“Okay!” Blake cut in, clearly getting tired of the exchange. “Moving on!”

“We move on any more and she’s gonna die of old age,” Sapphire muttered, then cleared his throat. “Alright; Weiss – your turn.”

“No,” Weiss said instantly, and was greeted by a disappointed silence. “W-what? I’m not embarrassing myself with a bad pun. Again.”

“That’s not very n-ice, is it?” Sapphire said, making sure to separate the first letter from the rest of the word. Weiss groaned.

Before the heiress could get on with her supposedly appropriate comeback, she was interrupted by a bout of laughter. It was unrestrained, unblemished and, most of all, relaxed; it was Yang’s laughter.

“There,” Sapphire muttered, holding out his left fist to the bed next to him. “Mission accomplished.”

Blake sighed, shook her head, but still reluctantly gave him a fist bump.

“Aww,” Yang giggled. “I wanted to hear Weiss’s puns; they made mine sound a lot funnier by comparison.”

“Hey!”

Everyone laughed, only to go back to groaning a moment later due to their injuries. Yang was the last to stop, leaving a faint echo of her laughter lingering in the air.

“Thanks, guys,” she said through her gasping breaths. “I really needed that. You guys are the best.”

They were bedridden, so none of them could get up and check on her. Even though Yang’s voice was shaky and she could not control it, they did nothing. They already knew, so they merely kept quiet and let her speak. They simply waited out her weak laughs, like waiting for the sun to rise after the rain.

“Thanks,” Yang said, covering her eyes with an arm as the tears flowed without end.

-

“Is it alright for you to not be in bed?”

Scoffing at Patrick’s question, Sapphire walked up to him on the rooftop of the dorms. Light was scarce, but it was suffice for Pat to show him a picture.

“The hand’s gonna take a while longer to fix,” Sapphire grumbled. Even with the pills he had, fixing a hand that broken was no easy task. “Who’s this?”

“I searched up that woman you were talking about,” Pat explained, lighting a cigarette. “Apparently she’s with this woman called Emerald Sustrai. Or whatever her name is. She’s not really discreet, either; she’s attending this school as an exchange student.”

“Fascinating,” Sapphire said, his voice laced with sarcasm. “What’s her name?”

“I didn’t bother with the school files, since they were probably fake,” Pat replied, blowing a smoke ring. “So I did a little bit more in-depth research, let’s say. You’re gonna love the answer.”

“Anytime you’re done with the unnecessary drama, I’m all ears.”

Pat showed Sapphire his middle finger, but continued as requested.

“Get this,” he said. “Her name’s apparently Cinder Fall.”

Sapphire instantly crushed the photograph with his good hand.

“Thought that might happen,” Pat mumbled.

“So we’re not the only ones with the means to research the other side,” Sapphire snapped. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll find some way to drag her out into the open.”

“From what I heard, you said you were evenly matched,” Pat recalled. “Think you can actually beat her?”

“I’m not going to beat her,” Sapphire replied in a low, dark tone. “I’m going to tear her to pieces.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that marks the end of the Yang arc. I didn’t want it to be mopey, since it was Yang after all, so I made it like this. We’ll be going into Ruby’s arc from the next chapter onwards, so look forward to that! Hopefully this email problem I have will get solved by then and I’ll be able to reply to reviews too; I have no idea whenever I get a new review nowadays…
> 
> Sorry about the late update; this was supposed to be up two days ago, but the computer I was using decided to suck at saving and deleted the whole thing. Yeah. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
> 
> Anyways, I’ll see you next chapter!


End file.
